The Naperic Legacy REVISED
by PrettyBlackDiamond
Summary: When a hero’s life suddenly changes during the aftermath of war, what must he do when a new threat challenges the world around him? Would his choices have to involve joining a resistance group in order to stand a chance against this new enemy? Squalphie
1. Preface

**A/N: **This is the beginning of the Naperic Legacy REVISED! I started to think more about it recently, and I'm going to finish it. I wanted to get it over with so that i can start on the next project, which i had written bits and peices of it. As to why the original is still up, its due to the fact that im finding trouble trying to delete my old account. While you enjoy this version, which has a few small changes in the beginning and more changes towards the end, i'll get right to getting ride of the original.

**Summary**: When a hero's life changes during the aftermath of war, what must he do when a new threat challenges the world around him? Would his choices have to involve joining a resistance group in order to stand a chance against a new enemy? And would he break free of retrained emotions? Squalphie.

**FINAL FANTASY VIII**

**The Naperic Legacy **

**Prologue**

_Four months, two weeks, and five days ago, a great war had come to a end. It was called upon as "The Second Sorceress War" and took lives, hurting many innocent people. Destruction was everywhere to be seen; for as far as the naked eye could see. _

_It all started with one woman Edea Kramer who originally was a gentle soul that took care of children that lost their families in the first war. Yet, all this was just the beginning for a prophecy that was to be declared. No, more of a mysterious time loop in the deep recesses of time itself. _

_She had soon inherited a great sorceress' powers and was possessed for many years. Over the passing 12 years that fallowed, she devised a plan to take power within the great nation of Galbadia, and soon the entire world as we knew it. _

_But, there were people who opposed her. These people, who had a rightful role in the prophecy, were a military unit by the name of SeeD. They were specifically created to defeat sorceress' if one where to show its presence. The SeeD were specialists in many different types of combat such as hand to hand combat, swords, guns and much other weaponry. Being trained in three different academy's called Gardens, the cadets learned various skills to survive and to prepare in case a war was to break out._

_And it was irony that chose the six young youths; four of them were trained SeeD's, to go head first into a great battle with Edea. She had once taken care of five of those youths when they were just defenseless orphans._

_Leading them was a tormented soul by the name of Squall Leonhart. He, who felt abandonment by his elder sister as well as his family at a young age, was now commanding the great military unit of SeeD. He and his companions had fought against her, and after and bloody battle, they had claimed to be victorious. _

_Yet, that wasn't the end to this traitorous journey for another casualty had surfaced. The only person in their party, whom did not have any ties with SeeD first hand, had inherited Edea's powers. Her name: Rinoa Heartilly, yet another major role in the prophecy. She was the key to all that happened in our future. _

_She would one day be the ultimate sorceress by the name of Ultimecia, the key to mankind's destruction in the centuries to come. The only way to destroy this sorceress was to travel to the far distant future and overpower her. So our heroes traveled centuries into the future to her castle of many tortured souls. _

_The epic battle was a difficult one, full of bloodshed and violence. And as the six of them struggled to claim their final victory, life was altered back to its normal state in the present time. _

_And that occurred four months, two weeks, and five days ago…_

_Yet, the six youths did not expect what would happen next, for times just got even worse from then on…_


	2. Phase 1: Aftermath

**A/N: **So, here we are, the first chapter! As I must have said before, the beginning is revised in such a way that there isnt as many spelling mistakes (I hope...) So, enjoy and let me know how you like it so far!

**Phase one: **Aftermath

It was quiet in the Balamb Garden, just the few SeeD's and cadets wandering the halls of the massive military academy. Despite its size, the population of the student body combined with the SeeD that still remained had dropped dramatically since the last war. Lives were lost, people were injured, and others were just too terrified that they had dropped out. Leaving the profits of Garden to decrease into a financial crisis.

His blue eyes skimmed through the contract that he held firmly in his left hand while his right griped onto a pen. "…In conclusion, the Balamb, Galbadia, and Trabia Gardens are here by declared bankrupt. Please sign in the required space below to allow your approval of the Gardens eradicate from the Military Education Board (MEB)," The commander of this Garden read from the contract before he sighed deeply.

There wasn't any other alternative. Garden had not enrolled any new students for three months now, and the drop out rate was escalating so much that it was beyond the commander's belief. He had to sign the papers; it was the court officials who gave him this contract as well as the MEB. The pen ventured towards the paper, tracing out the name "Squall Leonhart".

"_What am I going to do after this? I have no home other than this place..."_ He thought to himself in a depressed manner, eyes locked onto the paper before him.

"Thank you, Mr. Leonhart," the head of the MEB said in a gratifying manner as he swiftly snatched the paperwork from the seventeen year old.

"As it states on this document, you, as well as all the people residing here in Garden are to vacate the premises within 72 hours," stated the MEB's lawyer. He roughly read from the sheet as Squall glared at him. The lawyer's eyes did not leave the page, feeling uncomfortable by the look he was receiving from this Garden's commander.

"I know, I read the document," Squall said dryly, as his eyes glared silver daggers towards both men.

The MEB head official stood up from the padded chair before Squall's desk and offered his hand as a sign of respect and agreement. Squall crossed his arms and frowned as he always did when he got annoyed by someone or a situation. This time it was both.

The man flinched to the youth's impoliteness and soon turned to his lawyer. His lawyer bowed in respect, although Squall didn't deserve any by the way he was acting, and dismissed both of them.

"We are to come back here in three days," the MEB head official said in an insulted tone as he and the lawyer walked out of Squall's office and shut the door behind them.

Squall sighed, knowing this was going to be the hardest event of his life; despite other ones. He put a hand to his forehead and massaged his temples, feeling a major headache pass through his stressed mind.

"Life can't get any worse…" he muttered as his eye caught onto a picture framed image of Rinoa on his desk. It was a picture of her smiling her beautiful smile towards the camera. He could recall on that day, he and the gang had gone to the beach for a day of fun. That was only a few months ago…the good old days.

He spun his office chair around to peer out the giant window behind him that overlooked the Fisherman Horizon Sea. The sky was a nice baby blue with clouds that passed slowly in the sky. The water reflected from the blue sky as waves scattered across its surface. "If only life was that nice…" Squall said to himself, his head resting into the black padding of his office chair.

The many thoughts that ran through his mind just made it all worse, but little did Squall Leonhart know that they were going to jinx the events to come.

He spun around once more and picked up the Mic to make a very poignant announcement to all in the Garden. His index finger switched on the microphone, his voice coming to the receiver, "Attention all staff, students, and SeeD's, it has come to the Military Education Board's attention that Garden has not come up with any income in the last three months due to the events of the last war. We had lost a large amount of students, SeeD and money over the prior events that we had come up with little finances to keep this academy running. Therefore, we are to vacate the Garden within 72 hours. I am sorry to say that we are not going to live here anymore. Thank you…"

"The hell does he mean?" Zell Dincht, a fellow SeeD of Squall's, burst out in outrage, "We can't leave! Garden is OURS!"

"Where are we going to go? We don't have any other home other than THIS place!" Irvine Kinneas objected, stomping his foot.

"We can't just pack up our lives in three goddamn days and actually move on with our lives! This is ridiculous!" Quistis Trepe shouted, furiously.

Selphie Tilmitt, a brown haired young woman that was with all of them, was the only one who did not object. It wasn't like her; next to Zell, she would be the first one to object to these unfair demands. But in her mind she had other ideas.

Her feet allowed her to turn her heal towards the elevator that they were just meters away from. Her hand banged onto the third floor key that lead to her commander's office, and she walked in without a word.

The other three looked at her bewildered, curious by her odd behavior. Usually she would have had a fit, but this time she was as quiet as Squall usually was.

"Sefie, wait!" Irvine raised his voice as he jogged to the elevator entrance, but was pushed aback by the doors closing shut. She looked as if she had never seen or heard Irvine. Yet again, she had other things on her mind.

"The hell is wrong with her?" Zell said, running up behind Irvine's taller figure, but all he got in response was a shake to the head.

The elevator doors opened as the once spunky SeeD, who was now serious to a fault, paced a few meters into the room and soon barged into the lion's office. Now, her true emotions showed through her serious demeanor, letting her voice cry out, "Squall!"

He jumped slightly to her entrance, but soon regained his composure by clearing his throat and pretending to sort out papers on his desk, "Selphie, haven't you heard of knocking?"

"Don't play that crap on me!" she snapped, stomping her foot in aggravation and crossed the room with furious features plastering across her face. He was surprised that her happy demeanor was no where to be seen, this wasn't like her at all.

"So, you heard the announcement," he stated as he got up from his seat and grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair, casually.

"Of _course_I did! Who didn't?" she questioned in a loud voice as she finally got closer to him, just steps away from Squall. Mad or happy, Selphie always portrayed some type of immense energy.

Squall sighed in irritation, passing her by, "Well, what can we do? We declared bankruptcy and we have no more money to hire any staff, enroll any students or have anymore exams….I'm sorry," he answered walking right by her.

Selphie's back was turned when he had walked further to the door, so the small brunette turned to face him again. She stomped hard on the ground, showing the young commander that she was fed up with his emotionless behavior. She felt like bursting out with another remark that would hopefully get through his stubborn head, but she didn't get that.

Tears started to wield up in her eyes as her voice started to choke up saying, "…How can you act so heartless? We are going to lose our home for good and all you can say is 'I'm sorry', what's the matter with you! Have you changed at all after dating Rinny for so long? Don't you care about your comrades and where they are going to end up?"

Squall said nothing, but just stood at the entrance of his office. His blue eye captured the sight of the hardwood floor and it never left it as he cocked his head to the side.

"More than half the students and junior classmen are going to wind up on the streets with no place to go! Do you realize that they are orphans, too!?" the girl calmed down, placing a hand on her chest, continuing, "They will be lost without Garden…and most of them are going back to orphanages around the world. Don't you care….?"

Squall's monotone voice cut in after a moment's silence, "There isn't anything I could do about it, Selphie. It's the court and the MEB who is taking away the three Gardens…even Trabia."

"I know that…" Selphie whispered, "It hurts…I just wish that you would show me that it hurts you as much as it hurts me…"

"I can't Selphie…I just can't," he uttered, strolling out of the room finally, leaving the small brunette girl to wallow in her own self pity.

"Why! Why cant you?" she finally shouted at the now closed door. Tears finally traveled down her face as her heart pounded in her chest, and each time it hurt. "I…I thought you cared…I thought we were friends!"

Zell, Quistis and Irvine were lingering in the café at the time, where very few peoples hung around as well. The three slumped around a small table, thinking about what to do from there.

"_Three days…"_Zell thought, "Is that enough time?"

"Easy for you to say, Zell. You have a place to go…" Irvine muttered rubbing his face, mistakenly messing up his cowboy hat. It almost fell off his head; though, he wasn't concerned if it did or not.

"Lucky you," Quistis directed to Zell, and then to Irvine, "Where are we gonna go?"

"Who knows?" Irvine said, simply.

"I knew this might happen one day, but I didn't think it would be so soon, you know?" Another voice said from another table, this remark was intended towards the current conversation between the three sitting at a nearby table.

"UNWARRENTED!" another voice had said, being more feminine yet a tad aggressive.

Zell turned around lazily in his chair seeing a big dark skinned man that was dressed very oddly, and a silver haired girl with an eye patch, "You guys hear it, too, Raijin and Fujin?"

"OBVIOUSLY!" Fujin barked, already annoyed by Zell's stupidity.

"Everyone heard that Garden is shutting down for good, you know?" Raijin said.

"Wait…" Quistis almost whispered, with her blue eyes wide and some blonde hair in her face, "Have you guys seen Rinoa lately?"

"Maybe she's with Squall," Irvine assumed.

"Now that you mention it, we haven't seen Seifer in a while, you know?" Raijin realized, his eyes traveling towards Fujin's face.

"How strange, I wonder if they know about the announcement," Irvine cut in again.

"Who cares? It's Seifer!" Zell spat, portraying his utter dislike of the other blonde they were talking about. This statement concluded that subject promptly, letting the five of them go on with pondering what they were going to do after they had left the Garden.

Squall on the other hand, had made his way to the girl's dorm, which once was full of energetic girls crowding the hallways. They would be chatting about the hottest guys in their classes, but only one or two girls passed him by. He gave it little mind, only thinking about one person; the girl that he loved the most.

He strolled by four more doors until he found the door labeled '301 Rinoa Heartilly's Dorm.' Squall swiped his copy of her card key through the scanner and it opened within instants.

He casually walked through the door, but was stopped by a very horrific sight. Rinoa, his girlfriend, was straddling his arch rival Seifer Almasy. His blonde hair messed by the 'actions' they were doing with each other as his face full of leisure and his eyes high of ecstasy. As for her, Rinoa's clothes were hanging off her practically naked body; leaving Squall's eyes wide open in shock

"Rin-Rinoa!" his voice stuttered in utter bewilderment and a whole lot of mixed emotions; none of them good for that matter.

"Oh fuck!" Seifer cursed, covering himself up with a nearby pillow after Rinoa jumped off of him.

All of Squall's senses came back to him again as he let out, "What the fuck do you think your doing!?"

Rinoa jumped off the bed covering her self up with the clothing that remained to hang from her heated body, "I can explain!" she pleaded to him with not only pleading words, but pleading brown eyes as well.

Squall felt his heart being crushed into small bits. His mind could envision someone's foot stomp on it, and that person was obviously Rinoa. He shook his head slightly, staring into those chocolate eyes he loved so much. He wasn't going to cave into them this time, no, not now. He gulped down hard, feeling pain in attendance within his throat before he began to speak again, "How could you? I can't believe you…_Why_!?" he raised his monotone voice, expecting a good answer. None came; she remained quiet as her eyes ventured deep within his.

Seifer felt the tension build within the small single dorm room, making him feel kind of awkward and out of place. He cleared his throat and for the first time in his life, the blonde gave a very unconfident tone to his voice, "I think I should g-"

"No!" Squall yelled, glaring at the teen, which was one year older than he, "You're not leaving this room alive!" It seemed as if Squall's gunblade had come out in a flash, being pointed directly at the naked man.

"_I fucking swear I'm going to cut his dick off!" _Squall growled within his head, ready to do what he had intended to do.

"Squall _don't_!" Rinoa shouted, pushing him back, "Let's just talk about this in private!"

The lion pushed her out of the way, knocking her to the floor and preparing to slaughter Seifer within seconds.

Seifer raised his hands in the air, signifying that he was unarmed. The stupid thing was now that Seifer was unarmed, he wasn't only unarmed by his weapon, but by his arrogance, pride and confidence as well. "Don't do it, man. Put down the gunblade!"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Squall snapped, "You fucking had sex with my girlfriend! How else am I suppose to feel!?"

"Squall calm down!" Rinoa begged from her place on the tiled floor.

"Shut the fuck up, Rinoa!" Squall snapped at her, glancing for about half a second towards her. To this she only winced by his hateful words.

"That's it!" She stated angrily. Picking herself up off the floor, she looked towards the blonde she was currently 'toying' with and said, "Seifer, excuse us, we need to be in private. Take your clothes and leave now!"

The blonde followed suit, gabbing his clothing that were scattered about the room, and pulled up his pants before exiting the dorm. The door closed behind him and the two were left to solve a very difficult situation.

"What the hell was that?" Rinoa snapped, both hands resting on her hips.

Squall's being filled with rage once again. He couldn't believe what was going on around him. The love of his life in the same bed with the rival of his life, it sounded absurd, indeed, but it was the plain truth.

"You know exactly what that was!" he fumed, "I thought-I thought I could trust you!"

"You can, you can," her voice said, more soothingly now as she got closer and hoped that his arms would embrace her. It didn't happen, for the cold air of the room brushed against her skin and gave her the chills.

Squall glared in disgusted as he pulled away. His next words were covered in the most amount of hatred one could have in their tone, "No…I can't! Not anymore! You think you can use that stupid gift of yours to touch people's hearts on me now that I've seen you half naked on top of a bastard like him! I'm not going to fall for it!"

Rinoa's chocolate brown eyes wielded up in tears as her cheeks flustered into a deep shade of red, "I said I'm sorry! Isn't that enough?" she screamed.

The lion stepped forwards, "Nothing you do will be enough to make me forgive you! I can't stand this anymore! I'm leaving!" With that, the commander rushed to the door. One more thing suddenly crossed his mind, causing him to stop in the doorframe. He cocked his head to the side and spoke his final words to her, "By the way, the Garden is closing down for good, and you have 72 hours to get your ass out of here. Let's just hope we don't cross paths again because it won't be pretty."

Rinoa sniffed and allowed the tears to steam down her face. Within moments she allowed her suppressed emotions surface, and she yelled, "FINE! Leave! I don't need you!"

And as she yelled this, Squall was already out the door and it closed behind him. He turned his back on her that day, and also everything he cherished. To think, he was losing his home and now he lost the love of his life. And as he ran towards his dorm with a heavy heart, he gradually began to lose his soul; piece by piece.

His mind was too broken at this point, and all he wanted was to be alone. He didn't care about suppressing his emotions; Squall Leonhart was completely vulnerable for the first time in years.

___

Now at the end, I usually tell you the name of the next chapter, well this time I'm not gonna bother. I'll up date soon!!! PROMISE!


	3. Phase 2: Reality

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or its Characters or places, but I gladly own the characters I have made. :D

A/n: DON'T KILL ME! It took so long for me to upload. Shits been heavy lately... I'm trying to learn a new language so i take up all my free time studying. Possibly I will rewrite this story in Portuguese when I get good at it. :P Anyway I am treating you to two more chapters, take out your tissues it's a crier....

**Phase Two:** Reality

She sat there in the quad alone, watching the moon hang high in the dark blue sky. The stars twinkled high above and left her to gaze at them, astonished. She sat on the stage of the quad, where she always went to think. Selphie's green eyes traveled around the area that encircled her. This was the place she felt most comfortable; where not one soul could disturb her in her thoughts. It helped that she did most of her work preparing the Garden festivals.

In her lap, lay a small yellow laptop. In there, she could expose her deepest thoughts without really exposing them. Her thin fingers typed at the black keys at a fast pace, entering her latest journal entry.

November 8th, 2007 (Depressed Faces all Around)

"_Well, Garden had been in the worst shape it's ever been; ever since the last sorceress war. The MEB, or something like that, declared us bankrupt. Therefore, we have to move out within 72 hours. It's already been half a day, so you do the math. I talked to Squall about it, too, but even he turned me down... I protested with everything I had, but that still didn't change his mind to do something about it. He was acting his usual self…again. Sometimes, he makes me wonder what's going on in his head, yet if I try and try to figure it out I get a major headache. Is he really so heartless? That he doesn't care about anything but him and Rinoa? No…he cares…I think. Well, anyway, I have to get back to killing time and getting one last look at the place before I pack for the next two days. Later…I guess."_

The girl sighed, trailing her eyes at what she could rightfully call her "laboratory" of metal poles littering the floor before the stage and stage props cluttering the corners of the quad. She would indeed miss it. She had created many different projects from the time she had first walked into the Balamb Garden to now in the present. What would she do without the Garden as her shelter? Without the Quad as her haven?

"It will never be the same again…" she muttered, as she closed her lap top after saving her latest log.

"No kidding…" a deep monotone voice agreed, having a tint of disturbance within its tone.

Selphie raised her head and turned towards the entrance of the dark Quad. Deep within the vast shadows that cast was the person who just spoke and was identified by the moons dim lighting.

He wore black combat pants that matched his black combat shoes. His waist had various belts lingering as well. He had on a black jacket that had snow white fur along its lining. Under the jacket was a very masculine white shirt that somewhat matched the jackets fur. Hanging around his chest, was a genuine silver necklace that bared the insignia of a lions head and a cross; it shimmered by the moon's light. His hair was messier than usual as brown strands stuck up in places it usually wouldn't, signifying he had done something to mess it up…maybe under stress?

"Hey, Squall," Selphie greeted, and placed her portable computer next to her, hopping off the stage. The commander just walked closer in response without heeding the greeting. She returned a forced smile

Selphie took a mental note of his body language, finding it odd to see his hands in his pockets and his posture slumped. As Squall stood next to her now, she picked up on some sadness within his eyes when he chose to glance at her. Not only that, but in his eyes red veins were visible. He was a mess.

"_He doesn't look so hot…" _she noted.

"I'm going to miss this place…" she said trying continued their conversation; her eyes scanned the area for the hundredth time that hour.

"Me too…" a short reply came, "It's not hard to fall in love with this place. It's the only place that I could truly call home…"

"Just when I wanted to call Garden my home I have to leave, isn't that terrible?" Selphie asked, looking at him again.

"I guess so."

"I wish there was more we could do…" she commented.

"Yeah," came another short reply, sounding a little more awkward than the last. At this point Selphie could feel that something was bothering him.

"So, are you and Rinny going off to live together after this?" the girl asked, being desperate now to keep the discussion alive. That's when she hit a nerve.

After a long pause, Squall replied, "…She isn't coming with me…"

"Why?" Curiosity killed the cat.

The dark emotions came back to him as the fresh wounds opened again. The lion gulped hard, finding that this time he would only die if he could hold it all in. Rinoa had always said that if he was going through tough times it was better to let at least someone know or else he would only hurt himself.

"You always thought I was heartless…" he told her, hanging his head and closing his eyes. At this point, he was completely vulnerable, being unable to control his emotions.

"Wh-what?" Selphie shuttered, unsure of what to say next so she pretended not to catch that.

"But I'm not…when you come to think of it. As she made very clear to you all, I hide in a shell to lock away emotions…but I still care. So, I want to tell you something…" Squall's blue eyes finally retrieved back to Selphie, having even more despair this time.

Selphie was caught off guard by the way he was acting. Squall wasn't making any sense and began to get somewhat confusing. This wasn't him, Squall Leonhart never acted like this before. She had perceived him to be a heartless, emotionless person, but now he was being the complete opposite. The brunette young woman could only nod to respond to him.

"Good," came a mutter, as his emotions started to come through, "b-because Rinoa and I are over. She cheated on me with Seifer and I walked in on them…"

"Oh my Hyne!" cursed the girl in surprise, her green eyes went wide. It was unbelievable that Rinoa Heartilly, the girl who had spent almost four long months trying to open Squall's heart and then closed it up again after having an affair with the very guy who had caused them so much pain and scarred Squall's face for life.

"It's all…true…" the lion bit back. He was completely vulnerable at this point; breaking down slowly before her eyes for the first time_. "I'm so weak…" _he thought.

"Squall…I'm so sorry," Selphie whispered, embracing him in her small thin arms. It was uncanny at first, for it was the first time she had ever gotten so close to him. The girl closed her eyes tightly, expecting him to push her away, but only get his strong arms wrapped around her securely.

"When your'e in love, you don't ever think you will get over it, but time heals all wounds," she whispered again, but in his ear to sooth his soul. He remained to utter nothing, and just nuzzled his face in her shoulder, "You will get over her, I know you will, Squall. You are really strong; I know that for a fact."

"But…what if I can't?" he asked her, pulling back but she remained in his arms. He looked into her eyes, and she could spot more confusion in his blue orbs. He was a lost child again, just like at the orphanage they went to as kids.

A forced smile crossed her lips, "You can, everyone does…"

"But I'm not everyone…I'm just me…" came a very childlike comment escaping his lips. The presence of uncertainty and lack of confidence was in his speech. This surprised Selphie.

"You probably have never gone through this, have you?" Selphie pointed out to her friend.

Squall's eyes left her face, trying to avoid this question. Yes, he had not let anyone else but Rinoa get close to him since the days at the orphanage where he had depended on his elder sister Ellone to guild him. She had left him, and he was alone to survive, abstaining himself from emotional attachments to preventing him from being hurt. Rinoa had now left, causing Squall to be alone once more.

"It's okay…" she soothed, "You can trust me. It's fine if you never had a girlfriend before her. Your first love is always important, but when they leave you have to move on when you're ready."

"I suppose you're right," Squall finally said after a moment's silence, "I just can't imagine life without her, you know?"

Selphie got out of his grasp and smiled sweetly, "That's very common for a person to think that after a break up, so don't stress yourself too much."

"Okay…" he agreed, and said awkwardly, "I should get going now…it's getting late."

"Yeah, I'll go to bed in awhile. I just wanna stay here a little longer," Selphie chirped, "Goodnight!"

"You too," Squall replied, turning his heal and paced away towards the exit. Suddenly, his steps took a halt as he twisted slightly and said shyly, "Oh, and thanks for your help…"

Rapidly, the short brunettes face flushed into a bright pink and a nervous laugh came from deep in her throat. She waved her hand and stuttered, "N-no p-problem…don't m-mention it!"

With that the lion walked away, back into the darkness and headed to his dorm, leaving the 17 year old girl by herself once again. Her face did not stop blushing, even when she had spun around and held her cheeks. "I-I can't believe that JUST happened! And all this time I thought he was heartless! I feel so stupid!"

She mentally punched herself, slowly twisting around to look back at where Squall had left just seconds ago. He was long gone. Maybe he had left longer than she thought. Was she so shocked of what had happened that she had lost track of time? What TIME was it anyway?

He walked down the halls near the SeeD dorms, gazing at all the walls around him. So many memories that he still had left was of the many years Squall had spent living within these strong walls. It was like everything had a history and only now he was getting around to realizing it. _"I've been here for 12 years and I always took this place for granted. As if it was always going to be here and I was always going to live in Garden as long as I became SeeD. Now, I'm losing both of those and I lost Rinoa…so where am I to go now?"_ pondered the commander of the extinct military unit to be.

A metal picture of his father, Laguna Loire, came to his mind. Squall imagined the look on Laguna's face if he told him that he needed a place to stay, _"But like hell I'll move in with him…" _He felt a sudden rage build inside him._ "That would be giving him what he wants and doesn't deserve…"_

His room door stood in fromt of him now. He swiped his card key through the scanner and on the screen flashed his name and SeeD ID code. The door slide open, revealing his very simple room. A bed was pushed against the left wall and a desk, cluttered with gunblade equipment and weapons monthly magazines, against the right. Between the bed and desk was a giant window with a bluish green curtain that all students and SeeD had.

The only unique thing, other than the clean bathroom, was the giant black and silver gunblade case that he owned since he was thirteen. It contained his first gunblade, the revolver. That was its home now, since he had the Lionheart, a more powerful gunblade in combat.

Squall carelessly kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers, preparing for bed. It had been a long day, and he had suffered enough since the moment he had woken up that morning. The last time he was in his dorm was when he had hysterically came back from Rinoa's room. That was when he let most of his emotions out, trying to figure out where he went wrong, and thus, he still didn't have that answer.

The covers cloaked over his legs as he sat up, thinking, _"I wonder when she is going to leave? Is she really going to leave? Well, I told her and Seifer to…so I suppose she would if I don't want her here. But I do…yet she- why do I feel this way? I love her, but I hate her, too, for what she did. I'm so confused…"_

The lion peered towards the night stand next to his bed and found a picture of her, yet more memories. It suddenly filled Squall with more fury; not wanting to look at the picture anymore and therefore never wanted to see it again. His hand slowly traveled towards the picture frame and picked it up. The next thing he knew, the picture had flown across the room, and shattered against the wall in one explosion of broken glass and detached parts of the black frame.

For a minute there he was in denial, his mind exhausted from the stress, and his heart broken from the pain. _"Sleep…if I wake up…all this will be just a nightmare. Yes…a nightmare, and Rinoa will be back and I don't have to leave Garden. It will all be normal." _He reassured himself as he laid his head against the pillow and was soon out like a light.

_"A normal life? Like what? If I'm not a SeeD then what AM I going to do? Work in a video store or something? Why do I feel that this isn't going to have any smooth sailing for here on out?" _


	4. Phase 3: Goodbye

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters...but I do own my characters!

A/n: Enjoy the story everyone and keep commenting it! I love you people!

**Phase Three:** Good-bye

The digital clock on his nightstand stuck 3:00pm, just like it did everyday. But today was different, for it was the day that closed a tremendous chapter in everyone's lives; the day Garden was going to shut down forever.

Zell Dincht shoved the last of his clothes into a giant gym bag and carried that bag over to the pile of them located next to the doorway of his single dorm room. As he turned around, his blue eyes caught the sight of his now empty space. His fists found their way to his hips; he exhaled heavily, "Looks like we have one hour left…"

"_It will defiantly be hard to get going back to Balamb and live like a normal person, in a normal house with a normal family and a normal low paying job…I'm sure gonna miss Garden and all the SeeD's," _the blonde thought sadly, twisting around and struggling with his heavy luggage. As he walked into the door frame, more despair came over him like a wave. He turned around one last time to see his dorm room again. With that a tear came into his eye, but was immediately blinked away. Soon the door slide closed for the last time behind him.

Irvine and Quistis were lingering around the main entrance of the Garden. It had settled down just a day ago in Balamb for its last trip. And now, all SeeD, Students, and facility were to go to the Balamb train station to depart.

Irvine sighed, leaning against a rail of a set of stairs, "So, what are you gonna do after this, Quistis?"

The blonde girl replied, "I have been accepted by the Esthar military to attend to some duties as a trainer for soldiers. How about you?"

The cowboy sighed again, "I think I'm gonna stop fightin' and become a journalist or a researcher…or somethin'?"

"Wow, I'm impressed," laughed Quistis, "From a cowboy to a journalist…"

The taller boy gave her a coy look, "How's that hard to believe? It's one of my passions in life."

"Besides women?" She added.

"You can get women by bein' intellectual!" Irvine insisted.

She laughed, "I'm sure that's how Laguna did it when he was a journalist. Remember Selphie's infatuation with him?"

The two laughed, which was somewhat surprising at a sad time like this.

That's when something popped into Irvine's mind, "Hey, do you think Squall is gonna come with us or move in with Laguna, y'know 'cause he's his ol' man and all?"

"I highly doubt that, Squall and Laguna don't meet eye to eye, remember? I don't think Squall wants to live under a name like 'the president's son'." Quistis said, finding it a little sad.

Irvine chuckled, "At least he'll be rich and don't have to pay his own bills. He'd be one lucky bastard!"

"True, very true!" exclaimed the blonde haired woman. Her laughter stopped, hearing a large thud against the ground, not too far away. Both of the teen's attention was then shot towards the sound.

Zell, who was panting like mad, dropped his bags on the cement. He had lugged five bags of stuff from the dorms that were located at the other end of Garden to where he was standing presently.

"Oh…my Hyne!" he shouted, catching his breath, "That was WAY too heavy, even for me!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have carried so many bags all at once. You could' a killed your back, and who knows when you would fight again!" Irvine warned.

Zell ignored him and straightened himself up a little, pressing onto something else, "So, what were you talkin' 'bout?"

"Oh, just that if Squall was going to move in with Laguna or not. That's all," Quistis pointed out, with a little bit of amusement to the topic twinkling in her blue eyes.

"Psh!" Zell exclaimed, waving his right hand, and having a very bazaar look upon his face, "Like that would ever happen! Hell would freeze over first! Y'know how Squall feels about his ol' man."

"Yeah, that's what we were sayin'." Irvine nodded, glancing towards Quistis.

"Then where is he going to go?" the blonde girl asked both men.

The cowboy shrugged, but as for Zell his face beamed with a sudden idea. "I know! He can stay with me and Ma! We have a big enough house for three people to stay in. 'Know what? I'm gonna ask him now!" and with that, the over excited boy turned on his heel; about to run off.

"Do you even know where he is right 'bout now, Zell?" Irvine inquired, behind him.

"Uh…" he had no response, for he didn't even know himself. Zell scratched at his golden blonde hair, laughing agitatedly as he twisted around again.

"Don't worry, Zell, he's in his office right now. I saw him ten minutes ago, he should be still there," Quistis giggled. And soon the blonde boy was off again, leaving his bags with his friends as he went to submit a request to his now ex-commander.

Her keys typed at the keyboard once again, feeling tears swell up within her eyes. It was a painful day for all and an emotional one, too. It wasn't only that she was leaving Garden, but she was leaving all her friend's behind as well. And thus she wrote:

November 11th, 2006 (An hour in counting)

"_It's hard to leave your friends behind while you go to a place that will change your life forever. I experienced it many times before. Even then, in that new place, you form bonds with those people, and sooner or later you might have to leave them for a long time. It's life, right? Life is about moving on…and we have to adapt to change. As for me, I will miss this place, but my friends here are worth more. Therefore, I want to say some things to them: _

_Zelly, you are really great, and a very respected friend of mine. I won't ever forget how you went to so many extremes to be the first in line for hotdogs in the café. That shows how devoted you are to something you really love; I highly respect that of you. I hope you the best of luck in the future because I know you will be great at something else. Possibly a martial arts teacher for kids! (Ha-ha…that's actually a cute sight to see.) _

_Quisty, you were the most mature of the group (next to Squall) you are one intelligent person and I always looked up to you. You gave me advice and helped me with my problems; so many times I can't even count. I can seriously call you one of my best friends of all time. You keep up your teaching! The military educational board knows crap about your teaching skills! So, I hope you the best of luck at that military training program!_

_Irvy, Irvy, Irvy! You are really something. Mr. Romantic or should I say, you pimp! You weren't exactly desperate 'cause you actually got women! I'm not afraid to admit I liked you once, but I guess I moved on…so STOP hitting on me! (Ha-ha) Well, I love you as a great friend and I hope your researching or journalism… or whatever you're doing turns out great! I will be reading the Timber Maniacs every month to see if your articles are there! _

_I wish I could say something to Rinoa, but I can't say much. Well, honestly, I thought you were an amazing person and very nice, but I…don't think that much of it anymore. I am so sorry, but I can't help being a little judgmental to what you did to Squall…for personal reasons. I wish I could say something good, yet I just can't…I'm sorry. _

_Squall, you were always so cold, but after a few nights ago I realized your not. There is a Squall that I kind of want to know now; a caring and sweet Squall that has never really surfaced (not in front of me anyway). I always supported you and gave you my friendship and now we mightnot see each other for Hyne knows how long. What I wanna say is something I can't say to your face, which makes me hurt deep inside considering the incident with Rinoa. Ever since we bumped into each other in the hallway when we first met…(_SIGH) _I always had a tiny crush on you…but I gave up when Rinoa came in. I thought I stopped, but just knowing we might not see each other for a while makes the feelings come back. I know it's wrong to admit this now…but I'm Sorry…_

_I just looked at the clock on my lap top, and there is less then thirty minutes left. I should wrap this up fast; so allow me to say one thing, Balamb Garden…you were one of the greatest experiences of my life…and now, I am to travel to Trabia to see my old friends again. From there…we'll it's up to them. I haven't thought it through yet, but I think Stacy will know. So, I leave you with my good-byes Balamb…Laterz!_

_I hope you guys liked my entries these past few months and I'm sad to say this is my last…goodbye! I love you all! THANK YOU BALAMB FOR EVERYTHING! I LOVE YOU!"_

Selphie slide her laptop into her bag, soon zipping it up again. She had four bags in total. She put her laptop away in a bag, Selphie felt a tear drop land on her forearm. The back of her hand wiped it away swiftly, and a sniffle came. "I better get out of here…" she murmured, dragging her bags and not even looking back at her room.

All the brunette wanted to do was hastily get to the gates and leave, but something burdened his quickness. Under a few books, fell a white paper with writing on it. Squall unfolded it and read silently:

"_To Squall, _

_I am glad to tell you that me and Seifer left. I hope that this will relieve all the stress in your life…me. I bet right now you are still confused why I cheated…well, I can honestly say I don't know… but. then I really thought about it and figured it out. You worked so much as commander, I barley got to see you, and since I spent so many months trying to open you up, I didn't have the heart to break up with you to your face…so I did the next thing that came to mind. I cheated on you with Seifer. Was I mad at you? Kind of…I admit it, but that wasn't really the reason I picked him. He was my first love and you never really forget them, right? Guess you won't forget me then, huh? Well, maybe you should; for the best anyway. So I wanted to say that I did love you…but I can't anymore. So, from me and Seifer,_

_Good-bye," _

His hand trembled a bit, holding the note, but soon found him self crumpling it up into a ball feeling the pain increase. He threw it into the trash and then saw Rinoa's picture on his desk, "How can you do this to me…?" he asked the picture in a disheartened whisper.

Soon he had thrown the picture into the garbage just like he did with the note. It was hard for him to throw the last of her memories away, but just like she had said in the note, he had to move on for his own good. Squall wasn't sure how long it was going to take to heal his broken heart, but he knew that it wasn't going to be easy at all.

Squall gathered his things from his desk, finding that it was the last of his stuff. He sighed, shoving them into a bag as he mindlessly grabbed items off the desk, his mind going onto more pressing matters, _"I guess I should get going now…" _he thought to himself.

"Yo, Squall," Zell's voice called from the doorway in it usual slang fashion. He was casually leaning against the door frame, making Squall look up, "Sup?"

"Nothing…how about you?" he muttered in reply.

"Cool, cool…" the blonde responded, getting off the door frame, crossing the room to the desk, "Heym I was wonderin', where are you gonna go after this?"

"I don't really know," came an honest answer while the lion finished off packing the last bag, "Why?"

"Then I guess I have come with a proposal," Zell smiled, "I was wonderin' if you wanted to live with me and Ma for awhile…just until we can get our own place, You know? She likes you, so you wouldn't be much of a burden on her."

Squall was actually speechless, his mouth literally wide open. This was one of those proposals where it was extremely difficult to turn down. Where was he to go without resorting to live with Laguna? So, he quickly accepted it, "Yeah. Fine, I'll go."

The blonde nearly jumped out of his skin in delight, yelling, "This is going to be sweet! Just me and you, two ex-SeeD's tryin' ta live a normal life! I'm just glad I wont be doin' it alone!"

"_A normal life? Like what? If I'm not a SeeD then what AM I going to do? Work in a video store or something? Why do I feel that this isn't going to have any smooth sailing for here on out?" _Squall questioned in his head, but frowned outside of it.

It felt like just a split second when Zell wrapped his arm around Squall's shoulders; almost hanging off of him because of the height difference of three inches. The commander, now a normal 17 year old, attempted to shrug him off, but even that was a failed endeavor.

Zell guided Squall, and his bags, to the doorway so that they could get on their way in departing. The door shut behind them instantaneously.

"Is everybody here?" Selphie asked the group only five minutes after Zell and Squall had arrived at the train station. Huffs of gray smoke filled the cloudy days air. People chattered and some sobbing was happening elsewhere. They weren't the only ones to leave that day.

Her, as well as all the other teens had frowns upon their faces, looking at one another desperately for someone to devise a plan for them to stay. Yet, time was just minutes away from being up, and they had to leave now to catch their trains.

"So…this is it, huh?" Zell murmured, miserably and peered around to all four of his comrades.

"Looks like it…"Quistis replied, not so enthusiastically.

Irvine sighed, "We're gonna to keep in touch, right?"

Selphie cut in quickly, looking at him as if he asked the dumbest question, "Of coarse we are! Right?!"

"Yeah! No shit!" Zell shouted, giving them a much determined look.

"I know I will." Quistis smiled, faintly.

Squall said nothing and all of them began to look at him skeptically, awaiting his answer. He looked back at them and sighed, "Fine…me, too."

"So, this is good-bye?" Selphie sobbed, and Quistis went to her side to embrace her.

"We will see each other from time to time, Selphie. It will be okay…" she chocked on some tears herself, reassuring the brown haired girl.

"I hope so…" she replied, escaping the blondes arms with her eyes fixated with Squall's as she spoke. Selphie then hugged Irvine, Zell, and finally…Squall.

"I'll miss you, Squall," she said as she hugged him. She found that it was odd for Squall to stiffly and hesitantly wrap his arms around her in response considering the fact that he hadn't acted like this a few nights prior. She also had to consider the fact that there were not any prying eyes on them when he was at a moment of vulnerability.

"I'll miss you, too…" he admitted in a whisper, so the rest couldn't hear him. The girl smiled as a tear streamed down her face, relieved.

Quistis looked to Squall after Selphie had stepped away to say her goodbyes some more. Her face solemn, blue eyes meeting blue eyes, she then said to her ex-student, "I'll be sure to let Laguna know how you are. He might be a little hurt that you aren't coming with me."

Squall glowered back, "Tell Ellone I said hello." Squall completely neglected to straightforwardly respond to her comment about his father.

"I will…" Quistis assured him quietly, "Good-bye, Squall." With that she said farwell to the blonde fighter next to him, walking towards away. One by one, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis had disappeared into the train awaiting their departure leaving Zell and Squall to watch.

The group began to pace onwards as they were going to do for many years to come. As tragic as these events were, they were a part of life…part of moving on.

Zell and Squall stayed in Balamb to live with Ma Dincht until they could afford their own place. Selphie went off to Trabia that day to meet up with her old friends, and start a new life. Irvine had taken a train to Timber to he meet with the editor of the 'Timber Maniacs' so he can become a journalist. While as for Quistis, she was to take a train to Fisherman's Horizon only to be picked up by one of Laguna's entourages. The group who had destroyed Ultimecia many months ago were now departing from one another and starting new lives….

That was the final day for the military unit of SeeD…..forever.

A/n: I really like this chapter! It was sad and I like reading sad stories! I like reading everything, dont get me wrong, but it makes great writting material! Hope you liked it as much as I did!


	5. Phase 4: Fast Forward

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, but I'm glad to say I own some of the characters in this story! Oh, I just wanted to say as well that I don't own the song featured in this chapter either…

**Phase Four:**_Fast Forward_

"Come on man!" a blonde 19 year old was begging his friend, Squall Leonhart to attend a club with him that night. He flashed the flyer before his face once more in hopes of convincing him.

"I said 'no', Leave me alone." Squall said firmly, pushing away the flyer, and going back to his book.

"_Please_! Many hot chicks!" Zell Dincht sung aloud, pointing to the very line that declared the many beautiful women that were to attend as well, "See? Says it RIGHT there!"

Squall closed his eyes, with a very aggravated look upon his features, "I don't care." This had gone on for about an hour now, much like every other time Zell wanted to go to one of the things.

That's when Zell let out a sly smile, and began to act as if he didn't care as much anymore, "Well, guess SOMEBODY is too scared to meet anyone special at the party because he hasn't gotten over a certain girl who cheated on him for his rival!"

Squall growled, standing up from his chair and dropping his book onto the table next to him, fed up and walking away. He soon uttered, shaking his head, "I shouldn't have told you that…I knew this was going to happen!"

"Then why did you tell me?" Zell mocked, following Squall into the front of the store they worked at. It was hard finding a job that needed certain qualifications, so they ended up working in a movie store…how ironic.

"I might have been drunk or something," Squall answered, picking up DVD's from a box and examining them.

This is where Zell started getting serious. He sighed and slammed his hand onto the nearby counter, "Honestly, HONESTLY? As your best friend, I really think you should move on, man! It's been two fuckin' years and I don't think Rinoa is comin' back anytime soon!"

"Whatever…" Squall shrugged, knowing he had heard this at least three times a week, and if not, more.

"So, will you come to the club or not!" Zell shouted, more frustrated, "I can't go alone, it would be weird!"

"Then why don't you NOT go?" Squall exclaimed sarcastically, being a bit of a smartass.

"Because, it's a Friday night and work ends at 8:00PM. So that will give us tons of time to get ready and leave for the club," he explained to the brunette, who wasn't very interested.

"Whatever…" Squall muttered, angry at the fact that he was about to cave in from, "What's it in for me?"

"Girls and girls!" Zell chirped.

"Besides that," Squall dismissed, raising an eye brow.

Zell began to think, and Squall heard him let out a long extended "Ummm…." His face brightened to an idea, "I'll do your laundry with MY Laundry fare for a month, make dinner, and also buy you as many drinks as you want tonight!"

Squall deliberated for a second, and spoke up again, "How about, six months, make dinner for a week, and keep the free drinks whenever I want deal, and you got yourself an agreement,"

As he always did, Zell jumped in excitement and wrapped his arms around Squall; which he didn't fancy the bodily contact in that scenario. Squall did not say anything after that. He was going to a club with Zell, which involved loud music, freaky men trying to get with 15 year olds who used a fake ID to get in, and girls coming up to him for a dance; he hated all aspects of that. "Oh and Zell?" Squall spoke again, "Don't expect me to dance, because I won't."

The blonde waved his hands in the air, and walked back into the stock room to unload a new shipment of junk foods. As for Squall, he unloaded the new movies that were labeled under 'rentals' and put them upon their rightful places.

It was in fact two years ago that Garden had declared its bankruptcy, and Rinoa had cheated on him with Seifer. It took time to heal a bit, but as for right now, he could honestly say that he was slowly getting over it- slowly. From time to time, Squall could remember Selphie's words to him the night he had made that tragic discovery, _"When you're in love, you don't ever think you will get over it, but time heals all wounds." _And it was somewhat true. He still dreamed about the many nights he spent in Rinoa's arms, which was over now. He was still bothered him, but not so much that he would be ready to date another woman.

As for he and Zell, they had moved to Dollet, Galbadia in search of a new independent life as roommates in an apartment in downtown Dollet Dukedom. They had lived there for just about a year and three months now, and everything was going pretty efficiently; better than Squall had ever expected it to turn out.

Yet again, the club scene was NOT Squall's main attraction. He absolutely loathed them with a passion for many reasons more than just three. The type of music was far from the type he listened to. It was party music, and nothing like what he heard in any rock, or metal track. This type of music was upbeat; the kind would give you an extreme adrenaline rush and cause you to dance more. To Squall, dancing wasn't his forte.

And yet, he ended up going to the club that night. It was just hours prior to Squall agreeing to participate in Zell's little 'outing' that night. He and Zell walked through the doors of the nightclub after standing in a line that was so long it circled the block with an hour of waiting time. They had finally got up to the bouncers; two huge muscular men that seemed as if they took steroids to get giant muscles. They both wore all black, tight pants, tight shirts and all, which freaked Squall out a bit. He just passed through, flashing his ID and walked to the door with Zell trailing him.

"Check it out, man!" Zell yelled, excitedly. The inside was completely astonishing that it made even Squall have a look of amazement upon his face. It was packed with people dancing and having fun. Lights beamed everywhere, many different colors at a time as it went along with the faded music playing in the nearest room.

"There are five rooms and five types of music," Zell explained, "each have their own room. I believe they're Reggae, Hip-Hop, Rave and Dance, Reggaetone and House."

"Terrific…" Squall muttered, sarcastically as they made their way into the nearest room. His frown had been ripped from his face as his eyes came upon the first room, the Reggae and Hip hop room. The lighting was red and blue, as the many dancers crowed every square inch of the room. Platforms came out from the walls, and even more dancers resided there dancing with each other. Music, some overplayed hip hop song, blasted from the surround sound speakers. Far atop a stage was the Dj, spinning his remix to this song.

_I see your dirty face  
Hide behind your collar  
What is done in vain  
Truth is hard to swallow  
So you pray to God_

"_So, this is what a club is like…"_ he began to muse, as his eyes trailed around to all the people they passed by; most of them were attractive women, _"I guess Zell wasn't kidding when he said there was going to be a lot of 'hot chicks' in this place…"_ that's when his eyes automatically caught sight of a blonde walking by.

"Isn't this place hot?" Zell yelled over the track that was blasting through the speakers.

"I guess!" Squall shouted back, not getting eyes off the blonde that passed by.

"Yo, wanna get some drinks first?!" he heard Zell offer, and nodded as he began to follow the blonde.

_To justify the way you live a lie, live a lie, live a lie  
And you take your time  
And you do your crime  
Well you made your bed  
I'm in mine_

The two traveled towards the bar, weaving through the vast crowd of dancers and people getting beers and Bacardi. It was arduous to stick together, and they had bumped into a large amount of people that passed them by.

_Because when I arrive  
I bring the fire  
Make you come alive  
I can take you higher  
What is this, forgot?  
I must now remind you _

Finally, the two got the bar that was located other side of the dance floor. Zell ordered two beers from a male bartender, as they both pulled up a few stools. Their order came within five minutes and the two were left to sip their beers, observing the adjacent women that walked around the area.

_Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock_

Zell's blue eye's caught the sight of one brunette that was dancing with one of her girlfriends. She wore a blue mini cut jacket that went up to her ribs, and a white shirt tube top jean skirt was pretty mini, going only up to her mid thigh and a yellow belt around her waist. Her boots were knee-high black boots that compliment her skirt. Her hair was a chestnut brown as it was layered in many different lengths combined with some short ones; also having short light bangs crowding her face and green eyes. Her length was just about at her mid back or maybe longer, but besides that; she looked familiar.

_Now the son's disgraced  
He, who knew his father  
When he cursed his name  
Turned, and chased the dollar_

Zell then nudged Squall in the shoulder, who was sipping down some of his beer. Squall looked at him, perplexed of what was going on. "Squall, look over at that brunette," he pointed.

Squall's eyes scanned around the place, seeing five or maybe six brunettes around the place Zell had pointed. He questioned the blonde, "Which one?"

_But it broke his heart  
So he stuck his middle finger  
To the world  
To the world  
To the world_

"THAT one!" the young man exclaimed, getting up from his seat, showing Squall exactly who she was, and he saw.

"Oh her?" he clarified, "What about her?"

"Look at her face, doesn't she look familiar?" Zell asked.

Squall squint his eyes slightly as the girl turned his way, still dancing. Her face WAS familiar, yet he couldn't put a precise name to her. Then Zell did it for him, "It's Selphie!" he exclaimed hysterically, dashing off to say hello.

_And you take your time  
And you stand in line  
Well you'll get what's yours  
I got mine_

"It can't be her!" Squall informed, "She looks nothing-" then the girl turned around, and her face was completely revealed, but she didn't see them. _"I stand corrected…"_ he thought, mentally kicking himself.

_Because when I arrive  
I bring the fire  
Make you come alive  
I can take you higher_

Zell went up behind her, tapping her shoulder so she could turn around again. The girl huffed, agitatedly, "I told you! I don't want to da-" then her sentence was cut off by the blonde man who stood behind her.

He had blonde hair that stuck up at the front, much like when he was 17. His completion was tanned, and on his face portrayed a tribal looking black tattoo from his temple to his cheek. Along his once baby faced jaw line was a blonde goatee that traveled up to his sideburns. He was clad in a white and blue dress shirt with blue baggy jeans. This guy could only be one person she knew, "ZELL!" Selphie screamed finally, embracing him tightly, "I can't believe it's you!"

_What is this, forgot?  
I must now remind you  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock_

"Same…here!" Zell choked, and broke the hug. That's when another man walked up behind Zell. He wore a white dress shirt as well as a baggy pair of black pants with a single black belt holding them up. He had a faded scar from his forehead down under his right blue eye. His hairstyle of choice hadn't changed much either, consisting of shaggy dark brown layers and bangs.

His eyes couldn't tear away from the girl he knew from his SeeD days. She looked so different, from head to toe and he couldn't help but feel strangely attracted to this transformation. It must have been the fact that her now long brown locks almost made her look more…mature.

_Yeeeeeaaaaah!  
Wayne's world  
Planet Rock  
Panties drop  
And the top  
And she gonna rock 'til the camera stops_

"SQUALL!" She screamed his name, jumping on him. He was startled by this action, feeling rather awkward. Despite the change, she was still as energetic as ever…

"Hey, Selphie…" he muttered, wrapping his arms around her too hesitantly.

_And I sing about angels like angela  
(Rock)  
And Pamela  
(Rock)  
And Samantha  
(Rock)  
And Amanda  
And Tamara_

She backed off and looked at them for awhile, examining them promptly. She then spoke after a moment's silence, "You guys look great! Tee-hee." she giggled.

"You do, too." Zell commented, causing the petite girl to flush into a deep pink.

Selphie went to turn to her friend that she was dancing with remembering that she was being quite rude, "Oh! Guys, this is Stacy. We went to Trabia together and now were roommates. Stacy, this is Zell and this is Squall; I graduated with them at Balamb Garden."

_I'm in here up like betch what's up  
Mechanic, me, I can fix you up  
I can lick you up  
I can lick you down_

"It's nice to meet you two." she smiled, more so to Zell. Stacy was a taller girl than Selphie was. She wore a blue halter top and a short black skirt with some black high heels that adding onto her height. Her hair was wavy and a deep red and her eyes were brown. Her look only attracted Zell, who then showed no reluctance in asking for a dance, which, in turn, she did not refuse. They glided a fair distance away.

_Shorty we can go wherever just pick a town  
And the jewelry is louder than an an engine sound  
Big as rocks like on the ground  
Dirty like socks that's on the ground_

As for Selphie and Squall, they had drifted off towards the bar again, while Zell made the best of his night with Stacy.

"So…" Selphie started awkwardly, sipping on a very light alcoholic beverage. A mysterious tension filled the air between them…maybe unresolved issues of lost time?

_Because when I arrive  
I bring the fire  
Make you come alive  
I can take you higher  
What is this, forgot?_

Abruptly, Selphie felt a bit of rage engulf her heart. It was as if a hidden or lost pain had overcome her again, and this pain had disappeared two years ago; it was finally back from wherever it had come from. "Why didn't you keep in touch with me, Squall?" she asked, stridently.

_I must now remind you…_

He jumped a bit to that, almost chocking on his beer. Squall regained his composure hastily, and let out an excuse, "I was busy."

_Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
_

"Doing what?"

"_What is this all about?" _he asked himself first before speaking to her, "I was working and training." he half lied.

_Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock_

"Oh…I guess you haven't changed much then, huh?" Selphie replied sadly, but Squall didn't know why her tone was the way it was.

"Whatever…" was all he could say before he took in another mouthful of beer into his system.

_Just Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock_

Selphie shook her head, trying to move onto another subject, "So, I guess you're finally over Rinoa, right?" she pressed on, scanning the area, "That's why you're here, right? So, you can check out come nice ladies?" her tone switched suddenly to a mocking one.

_Let It Rock  
Let It Rock  
Let It Rock_

"Not really," Squall found himself in a half lie again. He wasn't really here for women, but had checked out maybe three or four before Selphie came along.

The girl scoffed in disbelief, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, "Very funny, Squall…" Selphie stood up from her stool next to him, and patted his shoulder.

_I'm back like I forgot somethin'  
I'm somethin  
Rulin' rock rubbin' rap runnin'  
Miles like I'm trying to get a flat stomach_

"I'm serious." he informed, turning to her coking an eyebrow.

_Like Wayne the personal trainer  
My aim is perfect I'll bng ya  
Period, Like the remainda_

The brunette rolled her green eyes before turning away. Squall knew he had done something to irritate her, but what was it? After a few seconds, he didn't even care anymore. _"I suppose she's still pissed off that I didn't keep in contact with her after I left Garden. What was I suppose to say? 'Uh…thanks for the hug?' I didn't keep in contact with hardly anyone, though I did talk to Irvine once or twice through email, but that's it. I'm not very good at keeping in contact with people that I haven't seen in a very long time…the friendship there just dies out. We have our own lives to lead and that's it; it's over." _He thought within his head, frowning outside of it.

_I wish I could be  
As cool as you  
And I wish I could say  
The things you do  
But I can't and I won't live a lie  
No not this time…_

"It was nice talking to you…" She said, beginning to walk off into the crowd of dancers who were excited over the next song that the Dj started playing. The song faded out and another then took its place. But before it could even start the lyrics…

_BOOM! _came a loud explosion that seemed as if it came from the next room. Everyone was screaming and running at this point, panicking for their lives.

"Everyone RUN!" the Dj yelled through a microphone and soon dashed off to save himself.

"SELPHIE!" Squall yelled after her, pushing through the fluster of partygoers. He grabbed her arm turning her around.

"Squall, what the hell is going on?" she shouted, staring him in the face for a sensible answer.

"Honestly, I don't know." he replied, "We need to find Zell and Stacy!"

"SQUALL!" they heard Zell cry; both their heads shot towards his booming voice seeing that he was with Stacy and safe.

"Selphie!" Stacy let out, hugging her friend tightly, "What is going on?!"

"I don't have no idea!" Selphie shouted.

"We need to get out of here!" Zell cut in.

"He's right. If we value our lives, we have to leave now!" Squall informed, grabbing onto Selphie's wrist and dashing off with Stacy and Zell following closely behind them.

The four of them cut through the horrified crowd, struggling every inch of the way to the exit. On their way there, soldiers burst through all the doors and windows of the giant club with uniforms and guns; rushing everyone in one foul swoop.

"Soldiers?!" Selphie cried, perplexed, her eyes darted around to see soldiers of Galbadia attacking.

"Why are they from Galbadia?! Ain't we on THEIR side?!" Zell asked Squall, who was trying to make sense of all this.

Stacy pointed out the logical, "This is insane!"

"You're telling me…" Selphie commented, getting closer to her, "Squall?"

"Why would Galbadian soldiers be attacking a fellow Galbadian city?" he asked himself more than he asked the group.

A sharp shriek was made nearby, causing him to avert his attention towards her. The soldier was mistreating a blonde woman, pulling her by her longish hair. "Stop it, please!" she pleaded with him, kicking around and flailing her arms.

"Hey!" Squall called, "Let her go!"

The soldier laughed, "Who do you think you're talkin' to, kid?"

"I said, let her go." he repeated in a more threatening voice this time.

"And what if I don't?" the obnoxious soldier asked, scornfully smirking at him.

Just a split second after the man had finished asking his question, Squall replied by charging at him. The soldier didn't even know what was coming to him; the teenager kicked his gun away and made it go flying somewhere on the ground, now unarming him.

The lion punched the guy a few times, very hard in the stomach. The soldier groaned, shocked by this surprising strength that this mere teenager had unleashed upon him. He was fast…and unremarkably strong. Squall's technique was even more superior against an experienced soldier such as him. Where did he learn to fight like that?

Squall then jumped into the air, swinging his left leg and smashing his foot into the soldier's skull, which resulted to knocking him out cold. His body lay unconscious on the floor, while the 19 year old got the blonde woman to her feet.

"Thank you so much…" she panted with a sense of relief in her voice being embraced in Squall arms.

Her long hair was platinum blonde and tied up in a high pony tail. Her eyes were a honey like brown that was almost yellow, complimenting her fair tanned skin. She was mysteriously clad in a white and blue dress, being more formal than this club even required. Who was she and why was she dressed so elegantly?

"Umm…excuse me?" her sweet voice spoke again, and Squall realized that he was staring at her making her nervous.

"Selene!" A man's deep voice called not too far away. He was a bigger man that had a dark complexion. He had a bald shaved head and had dark brown eyes. He wore camouflage like baggy pants and wore a black tank top made of a mesh fabric; his abs and built chest were visible through it. He wore black combat boots that seemed very worn out, which Squall assumed that fighting must have been his lifestyle. The blonde must have been acquainted with him.

"Mike!" Selene chirped, jumping out of Squall's arms, and ran away towards the large man.

"She didn't even say goodbye!" Stacy looked affronted standing behind Squall with her hands to her hips.

Squall stood up and shrugged off Stacy's remark saying, "We need to find the exit, and fast!"

"Then what're we standin' 'round here for?!" Zell bellowed, and then made his way towards the exit where a giant crowd pushed through the door at the same time.

The other three followed him, and finally managed to push their way out of the club smelling smoke and feeling heat coming from somewhere. Flames crackled everywhere with every last person evacuating hastily. The paramedics were present to take in the injured, while the police were there to settle down the crowd and make their arrests. News stations drove into the area and began to interview people and officers.

"But didn't Galbadian soldiers do this?" Selphie asked Squall.

"That makes no sense…" Squall muttered, placing his hand to his scar on his forehead.

Zell heard this and wanted to find his answers; he spotted the nearest cop and walked towards him, catching his attention, "Hey! We saw Galbadian solider attack the club! You're a cop, so you should know that the police are connected to the army, so why are you guys here?"

"You have it all wrong, sir. Soldiers didn't attack the club; terrorists did. They had posed as actual soldiers and attacked the new military base, stealing soldier's identities," the cop quickly explained, "Just round up your friends and get as far away from here as possible. I suggest you go home now." Then the officer had left to tend to his duties.

"Hear that?" Zell asked the three of them, "Terrorists!"

"Why would they attack a club of all places?" Squall asked.

"Maybe we should do what the cop said and get out of here," Selphie suggested.

"Good idea, Sefie," Stacy commented, "But our apartment is across town, it's too dangerous to go there now with all THIS chaos!"

"Then come to ours, its just a few blocks away from here." Zell suggested. Their apartment was located in downtown Dollet, and currently, that was where they were now.

**A/n:** Well, yet another chappie! I'd like to thank **WOLF **for all the great reviews! YOUR MY FIRST EVER FAN! Thank you! I hope you are enjoying the story as much as I am writing it!!!


	6. Phase 5: Danger

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, but I'm glad to say I own some of the characters in this story!

**Phase Five:** _Danger_

Only twenty minutes had passed when sirens began to echo through the streets near their building, not only was the club attacked, but other places, too. People screamed as they ran down the streets and cars raced, ignoring all the rules of the roads.

"The fuck is goin' on?!" Zell raised his voice, his eyes darting this was and that.

The four of them ran into the lobby of the building finding that it was packed with people rushing out the doorways and screaming. Squall struggled past the mess of people and went up to the elevator and rapidly banged onto the up button a few times, but it didn't light up like it usually did. He immediately assumed something was erroneous.

"It must be broken," he told the group as he looked up at the floor panel to see what floor it was currently on. The light was stuck upon the 7th floor indicating that the elevator was busted.

"What are we going to do NOW?!' Stacy complained, sticking close to Selphie who just walked up with Zell behind her.

"We gotta to take the stairs to the 9th floor." Zell groaned, "Come on…might as well start now."

Picking up their feet, that now felt extremely heavy, the journey was extremely long. Her legs were killing her, making her drop against the railing; she held it tightly while gasping for air, "I can't take much more of this!" Stacy let out in one breath.

"We have to keep moving!" Selphie told her, clutching onto her arm and dragging the girl up the stairs some more. "We have two more floors to get to and we're there!"

"We better have two more floors…" Stacy mumbled under her breath as she forced her feet to stomp up three more steps.

_BANG! _Came a giant explosion that seemed too close for comfort. It shook the stair case, making the four teens grip onto the railings. Dust came from the ceiling above, and soon disappeared into thin air.

"_This doesn't look good at all. What the hell is happening to Dollet? Why are terrorists attacking the city?"_ Squall questioned in his mind, but no reasonable answer came, _"Many people are going to die…I have to do something. I need to get to my apartment a get the Lionheart! At least with that I'll have a chance." _

"Let's keep on going! We don't have much time!" he ordered, pushing himself off the rail he used sustain himself. The others followed him up, passing the next two floors and burst out through the door to the 9th floor hallway.

People were now running of their own apartments dragging all of their belongings and families towards the elevators. The hallways were becoming very cramped by the newfound rush of people trying to escape the building, and now the hallways were almost imposable to progress through.

"Here we are…" Zell huffed; desperately fiddling with the keys until he took out a silver key from the bundle in his hands when they finally got to the door. He put it into the lock and a click was made. It was over; they had made it to safety….or so they thought.

The apartment was fairly small, only fitting two people within it residence. The first thing that Selphie noticed when the door opened was that she could see a living room. In the middle of the living area was a small coffee table and against the wall across from it was a forty-six inch TV. Right beside the living room, that was somewhat connected to it, was a small kitchenette that had a fridge, a counter and a table. Down the hall were two bedrooms, and a bathroom. Everything was relatively clean for a guy's apartment, making Selphie guess that Squall was the one who kept everything so organized.

The two girls plopped down onto couch as Zell turned on the TV, flicking through the channels until he got to the news.

"_Our next story," _the news anchor said, _"Dollet has been attacked by a large amount of terrorists that posed as Galbadian soldiers. The mayor had this to say," _the image turned to the mayor of Dollet speaking to the press, with flashes from the cameras and microphones of various networks forced into his face, "_We do not know the reason for this tragic incident, and I am sad to say I cannot say anything to make matters better for all the citizens of Dollet. We DO know that these terrorists are in fact Galbadian themselves…"_

"What?" Selphie cried, sarcastically, "THAT clears everything up for us!"

Squall shushed her, continuing to listen to the mayor speak.

The mayor sighed in defeat, _"All we could do now is evacuate the city as soon as possible. All citizens, please exit the city and save your selves! There is no hope…" _

"FUCK!" Zell cried, slamming his fist against the coffee table almost breaking it in the process. "There isn't anythin' we can do! We're hopeless!"

"Not quite," Squall cut in. All three of them looked up at his standing figure near the kitchen.

"What are we going to do, Squall?" Stacy asked him, distraughtly. "Kill every last terrorist?"

"No, we can make our way out of the city by protecting ourselves." Squall explained further, peering directly at Zell, who had grown a smirk upon his face; he knew what his friend was talking about.

"So, we're gonna let out the ol' SeeD techniques on these terrorist asses?" Zell leered. His blue eyes sparkled in amusement, excited that he was going into battle again.

"Let's get ready to fight." Squall smirked, knowing that he and Zell had wished for a day like this to come for a long time.

Both men had retreated to their rooms to get changed from their club wear into their usual attire. Meanwhile, the two women sat in the living room discussing their next motive, "Are you going to fight, Selphie?" Stacy asked, but knew the answer.

The girl chirped in reply, "Of course. It's going to be like old times, I just know it!"

"Selphie…"Stacy murmured, shaking her head as her eye brows knitted.

The brunettes tone got more serious, she hung her head, "Stacy, people are going to die…and I need to protect them."

"I know that…but you might get yourself killed." Stacy said.

"Yeah, I might, but it's better to die knowing you did something rather than dying without doing anything at all, right?" explained Selphie as she stood up. She took out her Nunchaku, which she had hidden under her jacket as a key chain. It was rather odd, due to the fact that she carried it around.

When Selphie had learned of a new technology in _Weapons Monthly_ that enabled one to summon their weapon by carrying a keychain that would release into the form of their weapon when thrown into the air, she had to get one for herself just to try it out. Of course, Stacy did mock her for a while about it, but those jokes soon wore off.

"Maybe that's why I stopped fighting after Trabia was destroyed, I lost that motivation that you clearly still possess." The redhead pointed out with a smile.

Their conversation was cut short when the blonde mans voice cut in, "The hell did that come from?" Zell walked into the room casually wearing his new attire. Zell had on a black and blue long sweater that had a hood. Along with it, he wore dark blue baggy denim with a black belt holding them up and a silver chain that hung about his left hip to his thigh. His shirt was black with a tribal sign sprawled across it, which meant 'fear'. On his hands were his prized possessions, his combat gloves, the Ehrgeiz.

"Long stor-" Selphie was then cut off by the sound of another loud explosion that even shook the building again. This one was way too close, making Selphie and Stacy jump off the couch and land onto the floor in terror. The apartment and its contents rattled, viciously.

"_That one felt like a bad earthquake."_ Selphie thought, sitting on the floor now.

"Is everyone alright?" Squall rushing into the room just moments after Zell had come in. He now wore a black heavy vest with a white tank top underneath it, showing off his strong muscular arms. He also wore black leather gloves that harmonized with his vest. To top off the outfit, Squall had put on a pair of black baggy cargo shorts that had his signature series of belts around his waist. The new thing about Squall's style was that he had three brown belts around his forearm and two long suspenders hanging on his sides that hung down to his knees. To add to his newfound outlook, Squall's stud had changed to a small hooplike earring. His shabby combat boots matched with the entire outfit. They had no laces, however zippers took their place.

Zell scurried towards the window by the couch, sticking his head out of it to see what that was. Outside, the entire parking lot that was full of cars was caught aflame. It was as if a chain reaction occurred due to the cars blowing up one after another and sending off one gigantic upset to the buildings in the area. "We better go now if we wanna live!" Zell exclaimed in distress before he got up again hastily and darted for the door.

From what they thought would give them some safety was just another haven of destruction. The attacks were scattering everywhere across the city in such a short amount of time.

"What the hell is going on!?" Squall snapped, irate, shifting his eyes towards the window and gaited out of the small apartment into a spree of fleeing civilians.

**A/N:** I PROMISE TO UPDATE SOON!


	7. Phase: 6: The Naperic Resistance Group

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, but I'm glad to say I own some of the characters in this story!

**A/n:** I know, I know, most of you reading this want to send flaming mail to my house because I took so long to update. Well, besides my computer being all messed up lately, I got my wisdom teeth removed and I was in pain and dozing off on Tylenol 3 every 30 minutes or so, I'll really try not to wait so long next time. But here's the next chapter, which I think is kinda long. ENJOY!

**Phase Six: **_**The Naperic Resistance group**_

In the elevator area, people were yelling and cursing about the technical difficulties of the elevators. They had to leave or else death himself would be staring them in the eye. Taking the stairs would just kill time, and possibly kill them as well. The buildings inhibitors were now stuck between a rock and a wall.

"What are we going to do?!" Stacy panicked at a loss of any ideas. She looked expectantly towards Squall who seemed to be deep in thought.

"_That's a good question…"_ he thought, finding himself at a great deal of loss as well.

That's when someone's voice overcame all the crying babies and rambling alarmed civilians in the hallway. A very husky voice bellowed out for everyone's attention, causing all to look up. The man that shouted was a taller man than Squall, being about 6'1'' or so. He had short spiky hair of jet black, looking as if it was done with a lot of gel. His eyes were two different colors, the left being blue and the right a very dark brown. His body was rather built, having his abs and his strong chest hidden underneath a heavy black trench coat that had many buckles and zippers on it. Underneath it was a navy blue shirt that zipped up down its middle. This man's age was roughly around Squall's looking as if he were twenty or so.

"Everyone calm down!" he shouted. "If everyone would just relax and stop freaking out, I could get you all to safety!"

Some of the people in the hallway peered at one another apprehensively. The young man's voice spoke up again to press further with his announcement, "As you all know, that in case of an emergency you are entitled to use the escape route. It is located down this hallway and to the left." His finger pointed towards the direction and soon his whole hand jerked twice to their left, indicating what he was addressing to.

"But only the landlord has the special key and it's impossible to get through without it!" a teenage girl, that appeared to be about 16 or so, protested.

The black haired man dropped his eyes upon her for a moment and then smirked crookedly, "Then we'll bust it down ourselves!" Faster than light could travel, he had taken out a sword. It had came out of thin air. Selphie eyed it carefully; she wasn't the only one with the new keychain technology.

"He has a sheath keychain, too?" Selphie gaped. It was a fairly striking weapon, being made of a high carbon steel colored red and silver. The blade was very peculiar, having a thin base attached to the handle and getting thicker as it made its way to the point, there it branched off, and curved to create a spike of an extra blade. Its handle looked pretty worn out, having torn up white bandages coiled around it with pieces hang off. The one comparison that Selphie came up with was that this man's sword and Squall's gunblade were approximately the same size.

The weapon didn't only catch Selphie's eye, but Squall's as well. He allowed his eyes to thoroughly observe him and his appearance. _"He looks like a powerful person…maybe an outlaw of some sort? He sure doesn't look like a SeeD or of anything in that occupation range. Who is he?" _

Skepticism crept upon the civilians in the corridor, but it then passed as desperation kicked in. If he was going to save them, good, as long as he could get everyone out in one peace. That was when everyone began to rush to salvation and down the hall.

"Let's go!" Zell exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Stacy and escaping with her.

Selphie began to follow, but noticed that Squall had not moved an inch; she persisted, "Squall, what's the hold up? Come on!" The small brunette then gripped on his arm, he wasn't moving.

It felt as of time slowed down, or did it shut down? He didn't know. Squall eyed the black haired man some more, not realizing that only his attention from everything else had shut down and not the world itself. The taller man walked by him and equally eyed him and his Lionheart. The two must have been thinking the same thing simultaneously. They inquired on each other strength.

"You better start to move out, unless you wanna die." The black haired man muttered as he passed Squall by. His eyes then trailed off towards Selphie, and he allowed a smile to flash across his face with only Selphie staring towards him in response. He then made his way towards the end of the hall where a rush of desperate people was awaiting him.

"Squall?" Selphie murmured, snapping him out of his trace.

The lion shook his head and then glanced at her, "Huh?"

"Squall, we have to go!" the short teen repeated herself, dragging him by the arm down the hall. "Hurry up!"

The exit sign glowed its red lettering, hanging from the ceiling. The civilians anxiously waiting for salvation as they watched the man burst through the door. The door blew off its hinges the blade colliding with it. The alarm went off and rang throughout the halls as the civilians scuttled out into the rooftop for the ninth floor was the highest floor in the building. The cold air met them, but that was the last thing on everyone's mind.

The black haired man's cell phone began to vibrate and ring in his pocket; he knew who that was. He flipped it open, putting his mouth to the receiver, "Riki, Did you do it?"

"_Yep, Angelus_! _The fire department is ready and in position! Everything is geared up down below."_ A young female voice chirped at the other end.

"Perfect," Angelus responded, "That concludes your report. Now, are Mike and Selene in position?"

"_Yes sir! They just called and said that they managed to get hold of our 'escape vehicle.' Both Selene and Mike are waitin' for us just blocks from here; we can leave whenever you're ready." _Riki finished quickly before hanging up.

"_Excellent," _Angelus thought to himself with a smirk plastered upon his face, "_the plans in motion."_ After that thought, Angelus had regretted he had even pondered it.

Just as he stood there, a giant blow had collided with the building. His vision darted towards the explosion after running a few feet away from where he was standing seconds ago. The upset had actually been a few shots from a series of rocket launchers that were fired on another roof top that was lower and across the street. Angelus could see the six culprits scattering down below into the crowd.

"FUCK!" he cursed at the top of his lungs, breaking into a jog over to the distressed swarm of people. They were now getting desperate enough to risk their own lives, and jump off the sides of the nine-story building. Yet, that was another way in getting themselves killed or critically hurt.

That's when something or rather someone was trying his best to calm everyone down, and guide them to safety as the fire department set up a relatively long latter to save the rest of the people still in jeopardy. Angelus' eye was caught upon the fellow with the Lionheart gunblade.

Fires began to crackle and roar as the blows oscillated into immense flames that began to trail out of the open door and onto the rooftop. The firefighters organized another latter to be put up so that they could take out the fire.

"Hurry! Get out of here now!" Squall demanded, grabbing people and leading them onto the ladder that the fire department provided them. "All the woman and children first!"

"Hmm…I have to keep my eye on him." Angelus smirked, jumping into the action and towards this impressive youth.

"_It's that guy again…"_ Selphie thought as she watched him mimic Squall's actions.

"Move! Move! Move!" Angelus bellowed upon the many women that were assigned to go first; he grabbed them one by one by their clothing, aggressively.

"_This is going nowhere!"_ Squall realized, _"Only one latter, and so many people to save!" _

"_If only I could junction something! Damn, why did Garden take that ability away when I left?" _he raged. That's when an idea came to him; maybe he didn't need a GF or support magic. Squall soon darted for the ledge of the building and called down to one of the firefighters over the sound of the roaring flames, "Hey! Get another ladder going! This is way too slow!" If he couldn't use any summons or much magic, might as well to get the fire department to do something.

The firefighter hesitated in response.

Angelus watched him make this move and realized how smart that was. He mimicked the teen once again, running off beside him. He yelled, "Do what the man says! We have too many people to save and not enough time! Hurry!"

The man's hesitation had now disappeared from his face and soon nodded. He turned to the third fire truck, and ordered that another latter to be taken out and put up there to make the process easier for the two men and their company.

As the other firefighter nodded, ambulance trucks started to rush into the chaotic streets with their sirens blaring throughout the neighborhood. The doors then burst open with medics to aid all the people who were foolish enough to jump off the sides of the building. Stretchers came out of the back of ambulance with two medics carrying them at a time, getting to their duty.

Soon enough, the latter was all set to go as it cranked its way up to the rooftop. People began to dash towards it, having Selphie and Zell managing that line up, while Stacy calmed the people down. As they managed this, it was evident that everything was going to be alright for now.

The last person had climbed off onto the ladder and quickly made their way down with a firefighter's aid. The worst was now over, and they could escape with some hassle behind them

"Good work!" The black haired man congratulated him with a friendly pat on the back, but Squall quickly shrugged him off. The look on the taller mans face portrayed that he was contemplating over what his problem was. The truth was that this was Squall's nature. He didn't approve of having anyone aid him unless he had asked which that was on a rare occasion.

"Okay…" an odd tone came from the black haired man, giving Squall a strange look for his behavior. He shrugged it off within seconds, getting onto the ladder and climbing down first; he was followed by Stacy, Zell and Selphie.

"_I have to keep my eye on him."_ Squall thought, following suit.

The civilians where safely on the ground, and being aided by medical staff and reuniting with what was left of their family and friends. People began to move towards the east where the nearest exit of the city was.

Just when everyone was to safety, a bombardment of bullets flew through the air. Squall's vision shot towards where the gunfire had opened up, finding three or four men relentlessly opening fire and three others slashing at random people with katana's. His SeeD instinct kicked in at that very moment.

Angelus looked on in suspicion about these newfound terrorists. His mind then realized who they were, noticing that the terrorist's that shot at the building were the same guys attacking them now. "Fuck…"he muttered, gripping a hold of his weapon tightly and jumping in as well.

"_Katana's are weak."_ Squall pondered, coming head to head with a thin silver blade. _"This will be way too easy."_

Their other two opponents were highly aware of what was going on, not hesitating to back up their comrade. Squall attempted to take all three on, having to take one down at a time. They were persistently getting back up.

A horizontal hit was dealt towards the first terrorist, and then he spun around connecting with the second ones blade, while at the same time having to keep an eye out for the third. The third terrorist took this as his advantage, assuming that Squall was too preoccupied. The third terrorist did not anticipate that Squall's eyes were locked upon him, while he attacked the first guy.

The two blades collided when a new figure jumped into the battle, Squall turned his head around to investigate who this mystery person was. It was the guy from the building again.

"Three against one? Now THAT isn't fair!" he commented, receiving a strike, but protected himself in a defensive position.

"Whatever…" Squall replied dealing more damage to the one guy he was fighting. The lionheart collided against the skinny katana, and directed so much force into the deadlock of the two blades that his opponent was beginning to be pushed backwards. Their enemies were master swordsmen as well, yet they had little knowledge of who they were fighting against.

Now, the three swordsmen smirked and locked eyes with each other, looks of amusement sparkling in their eyes.

Angelus managed to lacerate one in the stomach, making him gag out some blood from the mouth. He smirked at what looked like a winning battle for his side. Within one additional hit, his foe was down to the ground lifeless. "One down, two to go." he murmured to himself, darting his vision towards his next target.

The other terrorist took out another wave of bullets, shooting even more innocent people, and began to move away from the battle that Squall was in. Selphie stood in position, showing no signs of retreating, but only the signs of retaliation. Her nunchaku was in hand, and ready to take down anyone who crossed her path.

"_Okay, Dollet is falling apart, people are dying and just standing here is getting nowhere! I have to do this! I have to! I have to he-" _That's when someone gripped onto the collar of her blue mini jacket and dragged her away behind a parked car. "H-hey!" she protested, almost tripping over her own feet, skirming from their grip.

She looked up seeing Stacy next to her, both of them being in Zell's strong arms. The three were sheltered behind the parked car, hearing the stray bullets fire against the vehicle and scratching of the paint as they skidded by.

"It's a battle zone out there!" Zell said, quickly peering through the glass window of the trunk and seeing the battle brewing with Squall holding up fairly well. The black haired guy they had met in the building was fighting along side of him, killing one terrorist and then assaulting the other. Civilians were getting shot at or killed by the wave of gunfire in the area; even some of the medics were getting shot.

Stacy felt tears weld up in her eyes and clung to Zell's black and blue sweater. "Make this stop!" she pleaded between sobs. This was why she dropped out of Trabia; the girl could not take the fighting. She was an orphan, so she had no choice in attending the garden much like the others.

"It's goin' to be alright…"Zell assured the red head, pulling her closer to him. Zell, who usually obtained amusement when it came to battle, was completely defenseless at this point due to the fact that he was a brawler while their enemy used gunfire. He would be as helpless as the poor innocent people who were getting killed.

"_What are we going to do?" _Selphie thought, _"…I hope Squall is okay."_ She then glanced to her right, seeing a man get shot in the leg and hearing him scream out in agony. He fell to the ground, this making Selphie's being fill with rage. She couldn't take it anymore, she needed to help out. Her body struggled to break free of Zell's grasp, successfully doing so by biting him hard in the forearm.

"Selphie!" he shouted after the petite girl who had grabbed onto her Nunchaku and sprinted off into the open street. His arm was now imprinted with swelling bite marks.

"Oh my Hyne!" Stacy cried, tightening her grip of Zell's sweater. "Selphie, NO!"

"_I can't take it anymore! I don't care if I'm as useless as Zell in this battle! I HAVE to fight! I can't just run away anymore!"_ She raged mentality, sprinting towards the fallen man. Both Zell and Stacy feared that she was going to get herself killed, helplessly watching her disappear into the sea of madness.

Bullets flew at her, yet she dodged them with ease as if they were just mere rocks that someone was throwing at her. That's when a man came running into her, causing her to stumble and collapse to the cement. She fell on her arms, scraping them. People were running past her, falling around her, tripping over her. "Oh no!" she cried, scurrying to her feet, but a woman came at her pushing her down. _"Is this the end?"_ she screamed in her mind, shutting her eyes.

Stray bullets were fired nearby into the dirt. Selphie could sense that someone was right next to her when they were fired; her green eyes slowly opened up.

To her surprise, a young girl who seemed about 18 or so stood proactively in front of her with a heavy machine gun. Her black hair was tired back into a ponytail being rather short, while layered bangs were crowding her face. Her eyes were an odd violet. Placed on her left nostril was a small stud that had gave her a slight edginess to her style. She wore some baggy camouflage capris much like the female soldiers did in the army. It had a series of pockets, possibly being for her ammunition stash and what not. She wore black heavy combat boots, looking somewhat masculine. She had on a black tank top that revealed her quite petite body, and around her neck were some dog tags.

The men wielding the machine guns were all shot down and slaughtered by the gunfire this girl dealt upon them. Blood spattered out of their bodies, painting the ground in a very dark crimson red. Their now lifeless bodies thudded limply to the ground, having the life stolen from them. The wave of gunfire was then stopped and the people who still remained in that area fled the scene except for Stacy, Zell, Selphie and this mystery girl.

The girl grinned as she scratching the bridge of her nose, "Take THAT, Bitches!" she exclaimed happily.

"Th-thanks," Selphie spoke, struggling to get back up again and dusting off the dirt from her clothing.

The girl cocked her head at the brunette, beaming with pride, "No prob. You okay?" Selphie noted the accent in her voice being Galbadian, and it was very similar to the way the man helping them out spoke.

Selphie nodded. "Um…you don't mind if I ask who you are, do you?"

The girl leered offering her hand, "The name's Riki Callahan, the greatest mechanic there is, and a high class agent of the Naperic resistance group. And you are…?"

"Selphie Tilmitt." Selphie smiled sweetly, despite the girl's obnoxiousness, and returned the handshake.

"Selphie, are you okay!" Zell voice came from behind her, not sounding very pleasant by any means. She twisted around, providing him a very sheepish smile in her reply.

"Selphie, do NOT ever do that again! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Stacy screeched with fury.

"Uh…who is this?" Zell asked hesitantly, referring to Riki.

"No time for that, Blondie!" Riki answered abruptly, turning towards the battle that Angelus was having. She let a sigh escape her lips, finding how predicable her leader was. He was having a battle that had nothing to do with their mission, knowing that time was running out and they had to meet up with the others.

Angelus blocked three more attacks that the terrorist threw at him finding something catch his eye. Riki had finally shown up, waiting for him to finish up with his fun, and continuing on with the mission.

Squall and Angelus backed up into each other. Angelus turned his head slightly to have at least some vision of Squall, "We need to finish this up quick! Have any ideas?"

"In fact…" Squall began, "I do."

Power began to charge up within him, feeling a massive adrenaline rush course through his limbs from his heart that pumped at a rapid tempo. He took in a deep breath, feeling every part of his body contribute to his next attack. As he was about to exhale, the power unleashed sending his speed to its limit as if haste was cast ten times more then it was suppose to.

Squall almost flew into his enemy, knocking the weapon from his hands and it clattered to the floor, and left him defenseless. He was stiff for about a second before Squall had ducked, tripped him and sprung into the air slaughtering him with a countless amount of attacks by pulling the trigger of the lionheart.

The terrorist that Angelus was fighting was in a state of terror as he watched his comrade get blown apart. He ordered his legs to break into a run, yet they did not take the message, but instead had a sword through the stomach. He looked down, finding Squall crouching down, grasping the weapon's handle.

Squall's eyes narrowed, locking onto his opponents. He spoke in a very low tone, "May you burn in the depths of hell…" thus, the trigger was pulled, and a bullet shot into his body, blowing him apart as well. His corpse dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Squall stood up; looking upon the man he just killed then towards the one before him. He sighed, feeling the rush of memories of garden fill his being. It was all too similar to the battles he had during his time as a SeeD, and something in him told him that after leaving Dollet, that this was going to be his lifestyle again.

"How could you?" Stacy stormed towards him. He oscillated around in reaction to the high volume of the question with a raised eye brow. When his body was now facing her; she began to pound hard against his strong chest, though Squall acted as if it were nothing.

She looked up at him, mascara streaming her face, "How could you show no remorse for someone you just killed? You act as if it were no big deal! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"He was a terrorist. He killed many people and was a dangerous threat to us all." Squall explained with not a hint of emotion in his voice.

"Still! What you did was wrong!" the red head protested, breaking down in tears and huddling close to Squall's chest, but he did not embrace her.

"Stacy…" Selphie muttered, knitting her brows in worry.

"_I had no other choice. I had to kill them to survive…that's what my life is based on; trying to survive and keep on going. If I don't do that, if I show how I really feel, then I'll be weak and not proceed with my life. That's all I need…I need to move on. Unlike me, she is just naïve, and doesn't understand the whole concept of fighting. The next thing we know, this will all turn out to be another war and this will just destroy her…she's too weak by showing her emotions. Stacy, you're weak."_

"How could…you? How…" her sobbing continued for a few moments. She could tell that Squall had turned his head to the side with his eyes to the ground. Then the warmth of someone's hand was placed upon her right shoulder, causing her to investigate who this person was. It was the black haired guy.

He smiled slightly, "He probably does care," Angelus' multicolored eyes fastened with Squall's as he continued, "but he must be a soldier of some sort, so he can't show how he really feels about the situation."

"Am I correct…?" Angelus asked, averting his gave to the lion.

"Whatever…" Squall muttered, moving away from the sobbing girl, and walking right past him.

"What's his deal?" Angelus asked Zell.

Zell chuckled, "Don't mind him, he's always like that."

"Sur-" Angelus was suddenly cut off to the sound of a gigantic blast that shot out of an entrance of a nearby bank.

Piercing screams broke out into the streets as civilians rushed out of the building. The group was thrashed about, losing contact with each other due to their numbers. Angelus, Riki, Zell and Squall pushed through the crowd as they made their way towards the blast that occurred just down the street.

"Where all going to die!" a man panicked sprinting between Selphie and Stacy who were in the middle of the chaos.

Selphie reached out towards Stacy's hand, "Stacy, hold on! I'll get to you!" the brunette shouted, pushing her body to go forward in the confusion.

"Selphie!" shot out the worried squeal of Stacy's voice. Her features expressed a great amount of terror, people shoving her further away. There were so many people all at once that it was like an ocean of anarchy in the streets.

Their fingers unlinked finally by the amount of pressure that was holding Stacy and Selphie apart and soon, Stacy had disappeared entirely in the sea of people.

"Stacy? STACY!" Selphie finally screamed out, but her outburst was drowned out by the distress.

Squall turned around, stopping in place. He searched around, knowing that he heard someone call out Stacy's name. That voice then clicked in his head, it was Selphie. The lion darted to her leaving Zell abruptly.

"Squall, where are you goin'!" Zell shouted after him, but got no response in return. He only watched his friend disappear into the crowd.

She oscillated about trying to find Stacy, but failed to spot her. She called out her name again, but was then pushed back onto the hard ground. People paid little attention to Selphie, who was only a very petite girl for her age and easy to push around. She fell being trampled by feet, people tripping over her, and stomping on her. She cried out for them to stop, but to no avail.

Rapidly, a rough hand grabbed hold of her arm, and dragged her onto her feet. She looked up, wondering who this person was. She was surprised to find Squall holding her close.

"You okay?" He asked, looking down at her. She nodded.

"Where's Stacy?" He asked her, alarmed, noticing her absence.

Selphie said nothing for a moment, but soon the words found their way to the surface, "She…she disappeared! She got lost within the crowd! I don't- I don't know where she went!" The girl began to panic.

"Calm down!" he snapped, "Were going to find her! But first we need to get to the others!" he dragged her behind him, and began to shove people out of the way.

Selphie yanked at his arm, coming to a halt, protesting, "But Squall!"

"Shut up! We need to go!" He barked back and continued to move.

"Fuck! Someone must've set off a grenade in the bank!" Riki cursed, figuring out the cause of the blast. "Who in their right fuckin' mind would do that?"

Smoke and dust flooded the air as the beams of the building began to give way and fall apart. The black haired man turned his attention to it knowing what was going to happen if they stayed in that single spot.

"It's going to collapse! Run!" Angelus demanded of the two, acting out his order.

"Oh shit!" Squall shouted, watching the bank fall apart, halting to a stop.

"Squall?" Selphie panicked, looking up at him.

"Forget it! We need to go!" he cut in, changing the plans.

The girls eyes widened to this statement, "What? How about Zell?"

Squall exclaimed, "We can find him after! We have to leave now! If we stay, we'll just die here!"

"No! We can't leave our friend behind!" she retorted.

Angelus quickly dialed a number onto his flip phone, and listened to it ring. They needed backup, and they needed it now. The other end was picked up by a woman, "Hello?"

"Selene, we need to get out of here! Pick us up in sector 4, street 16!" the black haired man demanded.

"Roger that, boss!" She replied and hung up right away.

"What!? We can't leave without the others!" Zell exclaimed.

"We have no time to lose!" Angelus snapped back, "Do you like the thought of your body being under the rubble of this city? Would you want this to be your graveyard?"

The blonde gulped down hard, just imagining the thought of his body identified as missing gave him the chills. "Um…"

"They should be here soon…" Angelus muttered, closing his flip phone, and fixated by something in the distance.

"Squall!" Zell shouted, seeing him push his way through the rush of people. Selphie was right behind him. He ran up towards them, finding that one person missing.

"So, he made it out alive." Angelus smirked, looking on.

"Hey, where's Stacy!?" Zell exclaimed.

Selphie shook her head, the words in her mouth choking up and refused to coming out. Tears burned within her eyes as she rejected Zell's gaze, fearing that she would shed a tear.

"We lost her."Squall answered instead of the small brunette.

"WHAT!?" Zell cried, "What happened!?"

"We got separated and she disappeared. I…I don't know where she went…We have to find her!" Selphie finally cried out in a hysterical fit.

"Selphie…we can't." Squall muttered, letting out the truth into the open.

Her eyes went wide and her skin turned pale, "What? But you sai-"

"It's been too crazy! The odds are slim in finder her and surviving!" Squall shouted in frustration.

Tears wielded up within her green eyes, thinking how leaving her friend behind in a place like this was something that she thought she would never do. They really didn't have much choice in the matter. They HAD to leave Stacy behind; time was only running out.

"_Stacy...I'm sorry…" _Selphie thought, her eyes filled with tears with some escaping and venturing down her cheeks. She peered towards the stars with the memories of her friend lingering in her mind. Her heart was engulfed in rage by the circumstances they were under.

"Don't worry; we'll come back for her as soon as possible. All we need to do is remain calm and get out of here." soothed Angelus, walking up before the shorter girl.

"No!" She burst out in a heap of anger, "I'm not leaving my friend behind! I almost lost her once, and I won't make that same mistake again!"

"Selphie…" Squall muttered, aggravated by her futile protests.

"She's probably okay. I mean, I think she is strong enough to take care of herself, right? Who else would have the balls to tell Squall off to his face?" Zell half joked, trying to lighten the tense mood.

"Don't you understand?" Selphie yelled again, glaring into Angelus' eyes. He could feel the fire burning strong within her eyes. "I can't just leave someone I care about behind! How could I EVER forgive myself? I rather die than losing my best friend!" she exclaimed.

"I guess there only one thing I could do then…" the black haired man thought aloud with an inward sigh, observing the questionable look she gave him. "SLEEP!" He cast upon her so that she wouldn't try to stop him from taking her out of Dollet to save her.

Selphie's eyes rolled back; her body went limp. She collapsed into Angelus' strong arms; he picked her up off of him, putting one arm under her legs and the other behind her back.

"Hey!" Zell snapped, "what do you think your doin'?"

"If I didn't put her to sleep, she would have run off to find her friend. That's the last thing we need right now," explained Angelus in an arrogant tone.

"It's for the best, Zell," agreed Squall, resenting the fact that he had to concur with Angelus.

A black pick up truck pulled up not to far away with a blonde woman in the driver's seat, and a dark skinned man in the passenger's seat. The people within the vehicle must have been the people that Angelus and Riki were waiting for all this time. Were they part of some group? Were their intentions good or bad? Not even Squall knew the answer to that. But still, he didn't trust any of them.

"They're here." Riki smirked, pacing towards the truck.

"Finally," muttered Angelus, who began to follow holding Selphie in his arms.

"Hey!" Zell called after him.

"Where do you think your going with Selphie?" Squall growled, holding up the lionheart trying to intimidate him. Angelus cocked an eyebrow at the lion, and with no intention to fight. "Uhhh…aren't you coming?" he asked the two in response.

They started and glanced at one another for a moment in utter confusion. Was he inviting them to escape with them?

"Listen, if you guys have a plan of your own in getting out of here, that's great and all…I'll just give back the chick and we'll be on our marry way." Angelus sighed, looking as if he wouldn't care whether or not Squall, Zell and Selphie went with them or not.

"N-no!" Zell objected abruptly, "H-hang on! We're comin', too!"

Squall jerked at this remark, realizing that he had no say in the matter. He glared at the blonde for a moment, "What?"

Zell smiled sheepishly to the lions glare and laughed, "Yeah, we're comin' with you guys. We all need to get out of Dollet, right? It's the only choice we have in gettin' outta here!"

Squall sighed; it was just like Zell to do something without thinking first. It was another one of those moments in time were he did so, which he quickly submitted to going along with them as well. Squall vowed that he would leave them once they got to another city, and figured out what was going on. "Fine, I'll go…" he muttered, trailing Angelus' path to the pick up truck.

**A/N: **Oh boy! Introduction to some of MY characters, which I hope you really like. I want to know your take on them. As for the difference in Riki's and Angelus' speech, I wanted to give him more class. Yeah, they are both Galbadian, but you will find out why they are like that. When I first thought of Riki, I thought of pronouncing it (Reekey), but if you like (Ricky) by all means it's up to you. Shes supposed to be a tomboy anyway so whatever. Maybe I'll make a pun out of it sometime lol.


	8. Phase 7: New Mission

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, but I'm glad to say I own some of the characters in this story!

**A/N:** So, as promised, the second chapter of my update! If this one wasn't so short compared to the other, updating another long one would have been hell at 2 am... lol ENJOY!

**p.s: REVIEW PLEASE! **

**Phase 7:** New Mission

Night fall was about to come to a close as the sky began to turn a slight purple, the sun began to peak out of the horizon. The border of Dollet had passed them by just a half hour ago and their destination was set.

Mountains surrounded them for about a mile or two ahead, and only the view of plains were stretched out as far as the horizon would allow them to see. It was only the seven of them now and all the chaos was only a mile behind them. It became quiet.

Zell and Riki sat next to the man in the passenger's seat in the front of the car, leaving Squall and Angelus alone with Selphie's motionless body in the back of the truck.

"Hey, I know you two!" Zell spoke up suddenly. They just turned their heads with perplexed features upon their faces as he continued, "I saw you guys at the club earlier! When that guy tried to attack you and my friend saved your life!"

The blonde girl giggled, her eyes fixated on the road ahead of her. "Yes, that was me. Thanks to your friend we wouldn't have been able to continue with our mission."

"Mission?" Zell echoed.

"To escape, and head to Deling City," answered the dark skinned man.

"What's in Deling City?" Zell queried.

"You sure ask a lot of questions, don't 'cha?" Riki mocked and took a deep breath. "Well, we're from Deling City-our group, I mean."

"Your group?" Zell acknowledged that Riki had said something earlier in the night when she first made her appearance.

"The Naperic resistance group." stated the man, "Made up of Selene, Riki, Angelus and me, Mike. We're a group who do underground missions."

"Underground? Like what?" Zell asked, cocking a blonde eyebrow.

"We oppose the government and its laws. We work with gangs and mafia groups." Mike shrugged.

"You mean to tell me you four do illegal work?"

"Whoa, Whoa, whoa!" Riki interjected, waving her hand to cue in a few good points. "It's not exactly ILLEGAL! It's just managin' the illegal dudes! Gatherin' important info from them and makin' sure they don't do something stupid when it comes to money and stuff. Mostly it's the mafia and the gangs who do that shit."

"We just keep them straight. When a gang doesn't pay their dues, we deal with them." Mike added.

"We even get offers to go on missions, such as coming to Dollet to gather information." Selene explained.

"Gather info, huh?" Zell cocked a suspicious eye brow. "Like what?"

"We've been on the trail of the person in charge of the attack for some time now. Angelus got word of somethin' like this from some underground groups that overhead some soldiers talkin' about it. They said 'Dollet', so we had to come. We didn't find much, though." Mike pressed on with more detail.

"Angelus made sure that we investigated Dollet's underground resistance groups, but the only thing we came up with was a date, which was when the attacks were to take place and the time that all 15 attacks were to occur. In addition, we managed to get only three or four addresses." Selene said.

"Apparently, the attacks were set just minutes after each other. While Mike and Selene were busy at the club, I was investigatin' at a nearby office building. It was apparently the fourth attack and was set 20 minutes after the club was targeted." Riki said.

"Shit…but why are these places being targeted?" Zell inquired.

Selene shook her head as she made a right turn. "If only we knew…"

"Fuck…" was the only thing Zell could say to conclude the conversation.

Meanwhile, out in the back of the truck, Squall and Angelus were left with Selphie's motionless body. She was wedged up against the side of the truck; Squall sat next to her. He acted as if her sleeping figure gave him some interest, attempting to ignore Angelus' stare. He hoped that a conversation wasn't an option at the moment.

The 20 year old watched Squall, finding his battle tactics were astounding. It was almost as if they fought with similar moves and battle strategy. Angelus assumed that this youth wasn't much younger than he, not appearing to be a year older than 19.

"So, your names Squall, right?" the black haired man asked, starting up a chat.

"Yeah, and what of it?" Squall responded coldly.

"Just asking," Angelus replied after an extended pause. "The name's Skyros Angelus; people just address me by my last name."

"Whatever…" came Squall's signature phrase of disinterest.

"You must be from around Galbadia, you look Galbadian," scrutinized the man, "Where you from?"

"That's none of your business." He answered, glaring at him.

"Okay…" Angelus let out. His vision turned towards the girl on Squall's left and curiosity overcame him. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Squall turned to her for a second and then scowled at him again, "No."

A smirk crept upon Angelus' face as his multicolored eyes almost twinkled, "Good then. She's pretty hot if you know what I mean."

Squall began to get irritated by his behavior towards Selphie. He did in fact agree, but pride had gotten in the way again, and saying that Selphie was attractive was the last thing he was going to do in his presence. "No, I don't know what you mean." He lied.

"Tough luck, then," shrugged the black haired man, positioning himself back against the side of the pickup truck. "I guess it's easy to say that it won't be competition to claim her heart, now will it?"

"You make no sense…" Squall uttered in a monotone voice.

Angelus chuckled to the lions distrust towards him and found it very understandable. To Squall, he was just a guy who picked him and his friends off the streets of destruction. The last thing he was going to do was start to have reliance over a man whom he just met only hours ago. The Naperic leader dismissed his behavior altogether and began to find amusement to it.

"We're off to Deling City, if you don't already know." Angelus spoke up once again after a moment's silence.

"Deling City?" Squall questioned.

"Yeah," he let out, "I like to call it 'The city of origin'"

"Why?"

Angelus chuckled again before clarifying, "Well, I was not only born and raised in Deling City, but our little resistance group also originated there."

Squall raised a brown eye brow in reaction to the words he just heard from Angelus, and found this information quite intriguing. "You mean to tell me you and the other three are part of a certain resistance group?"

"Yep." The leader said proudly and began to boast, "We are considered one of the best underground resistance groups in Galbadia. Our obligation is to work with underground associations such as the mafia and gangs and one day overthrow the federal government."

"So, you're a rebel group." Squall stated, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Psh!" Angelus shrugged, "You make us sound like a bunch of criminals! You can say we're the 'authority of the underground'. We manage the ways of the gangs and other groups, so they don't do something completely stupid that could get the cops and stuff like that involved and onto us. We do missions for the mafia and groups like that, like collecting loans, 'dealing' with people, collecting important info on the latest from the government. We also do intelligence missions, and work a lot with the other groups and travel around. Basically, we do good…in a way."

"What was the reason for you to be in Dollet, if you're actually stationed in Deling City?" Squall asked, becoming skeptical.

"Well," Angelus sighed, "Your way over your head in this already, and know too much for your own good. There is no point in hiding anything from you, now is there?"

"You didn't answer my question." Squall pointed out.

"Okay," Angelus leaned in forward, eyeing him like a hawk, "I'll answer under one condition; you and your friends join my faction."

"What?" Squall was caught off guard by this query.

Angelus relaxed and leaned back again, predicting that this uptight youth would reject his request. "Then again, you can be left behind anywhere I please, and then you're completely screwed …"

"I mean, we're almost, what? Two miles away from Dollet? I guess you can go back there if you really wanted to, but I HIGHLY doubt anyone there can help you. You would be back to square one, and as for us, we would all be escaping to safely in Deling." Squall contemplated this over and over in his head, glowering at Angelus. The leader continued, "It's really up to you, isn't it? So…" his brown and blue eyes lay upon Selphie's sleeping figure once more. "What will it be, Scarface?"

His being was in fact uneasy by this question, finding him self between a rock and a wall as the fate of him and both his comrades burdened onto his shoulders. The lion thought for a moment, seeing Selphie in the corner of his eye_, "I hope you will understand when you wake up…I'm sorry. This is all we can do for now." _

"Fine…I, as well as my comrades, will join Naperic. Now speak, tell me why you were in Dollet?"

A smirk crossed the leaders face, and he looked Squall square in the eyes as he began, "I never thought you would say yes, but onto the main course, shall we?"

"Riki Callahan, Selene Rouge and Mike Cameron, and I were to go to Dollet to gather information on this attack. A fellow group of ours had overhead some of Caraways goons discussing this event, and they had mentioned Dollet. So, we came here in order to find some things out. Barely any information was disclosed by the resistance groups in Dollet 'cause they knew jack shit about the attacks. Actually," Angelus paused, scratching the bridge of his nose, "they weren't even aware that any attacks were even being planned. That goes to show you how effective the underground system is there. I mean, they can't even find out any info on their own city! A bunch of blind fucking bats they are!"

"Anyway, during our stay in Dollet, we got word of only two things, two things that came in handy at the time. One was the exact date in which the attacks would take place, and two, a few addresses and exact time that the 15 targets were to be attacked."

"Our mission was to find the guy in charge of planning it. Yet, we failed." Angelus concluded.

"So, you believed he was in Dollet." The brunette said, saying exactly what Angelus was about to explain.

The black raven head nodded, "Yeah, but the bastard was too smart for us. He's hiding out somewhere far away from Dollet. I just know it…"

"…..then we can help you…." came a worn-out voice of a female. Squall looked next to him, seeing that Selphie stir and had been paying attention to the conversation.

"Selphie…"Squall let out, remembering she was there.

"Good, you were listening the whole time." Angelus smirked.

The petite brunette rubbed her eyes to diminish the sleep that resided there still. "Not all of it. Just from when you began to explain the reason why you were in Dollet." She answered truthfully.

"In order for me to talk, Scarface here had to volunteer you three over to the Naperic resistance group." The leader informed her, eyes fixated upon Squall's.

Selphie sighed sadly, putting a clenched hand to her chest, "If that's going to bring Stacy back, so be it."

"Perfect…it's settled," Angelus smiled, "Welcome to the resistance group, and get ready for a new mission!"


	9. Phase 8: Briefing

A/N: Okay, I'm really sorry it's been like a month since my last update! But I'm trying my best to edit as best I could and still write the story at the same time. I have so many chapters to re-read and edit! And also, I'm setting up a deviant art account for my artwork! I'm trying to finish one up right now, and for anyone who likes this fanfic you might wanna check it out after I'm done! I'll be sure to post it as my pic. Also on another note, I've been bouncing around some ideas for MORE stories! ...and a possible sequel. I still prewritting, though, so I don't really know how that will out. Keep reviewing because I love reading them and replying back to you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, but I'm glad to say I own some of the characters in this story!

**Phase 8:** _Briefing_

"Three and a half days and were finally in Deling!" Riki burst out, walking along side Angelus as the group advanced down the crowded streets of the Galbadian Capital, Deling city. "It's good to finally be home again!"

"It feels like it's been FOREVER since we were last in Deling, don't you think, Squall?" Selphie asked, peering up to his taller figure.

"I suppose…" was his reply, shrugging at a loss for words.

"When was the last time we were here, anyway?" Zell asked him, treading not too far away.

The memories flooded back into his mind, recalling the assassination attempt on Edea two years ago. That resulted in a failed mission and imprisonment in the D-District prison, oh, how could he forget that? Squall had been charged on many counts, having Caraway, who was in charge of the attempt, back out of taking any responsibility when it came to the expense of his reputation. Therefore, with Squall unconscious and unable to make any protest, Caraway acted like it never happened and failed to bail the SeeDs out for parole.

As a result, being in Deling City wasn't as delightful as it may have seemed to be. "Never mind that, we need to find the guy who was in charge of the attacks in Dollet."

"We're staying in the Galbadia hotel for the night until we can locate where the Sahara group is. In the meantime, we are to hang tight there." Angelus informed the group.

"Sahara?" Selphie asked, "Sounds kinda like a desert to me."

Selene giggled to her comment, cocking her head to the side to see Selphie from the corner of her eye. "Sahara is our ally group. We correspond with them on a regular basis. They are the group who notified us about the attack."

"So, they were the ones who overhead the galbadian guards talking about the attack." Squall murmured.

The sound of Angelus' Cell phone going off caught everyone's attention. He pulled it out and flipped it open, "Hello?"

"_Hey man! Heard you're back in Deling!"_ A man on the other end cheered enthusiastically.

"Caesar?" Angelus broke into a smile, "Hey, how did you find that out so soon? I haven't even been here for an hour and you already know?"

"Who is Caesar?" Selphie whispered to Mike.

"He's the leader of Sahara. He and Angelus go way back." answered the taller man.

"_Even you should know that news spreads like wildfire in Deling!"_ he laughed. _"So, the reason I called you is that I'm just chillin' here in the Hotel by myself…just drinking my cocktail. I was wondering if we can meet up, we need to talk."_

"Cocktail, huh?" Angelus chuckled, "And nothings ever good after you say 'we need to talk'."

Caesar laughed once more, "_Always was the joker, Angelus. But seriously, I've got more info on the attacks that my groups have uncovered. I think you need to check this out."_

"Fine, I'll be on my way." His conversation concluded with that and the line went dead.

"What was that?" Zell asked him.

Angelus looked at his phone for a few moments, and shoved it into the depths of his trench coat pocket. "'Looks like we got some more info. It might even be a lead!" the leader's pace quickened breaking into a run. The group followed suit, cutting through the arcade district.

"So, what's the deal about this Caesar guy?" Squall asked Angelus as their gait decelerated, arriving to the destination.

"An old friend; his group is more about spies and gathering information, while ours are in action. Like in Dollet, Caesar found out some stuff, and we went out to gather more, and then did the action part." The Galbadian Leader explained. "We do both, but our status is more active than theirs."

Angelus trotted towards the counter and asked the female receptionist, "Has Caesar Lamont checked in yet?"

"Oh, yes, Angelus. He said he will be waiting down in the bar area for you," said the blonde woman.

"Thanks Danielle!" he spoke before darking off again.

"He always gets like this…"Riki muttered, shaking her head to his predictability. Her statement had snatched the attention of Zell, who just rolled his eyes.

"So, what info have you found out for us, Caesar?" Angelus asked, anxiously, his old chum as they all crowded around the nearest table to the bar.

Caesar looked as if he were Galbadian himself. He had dark brown curly hair, and had brown eyes as dark as chocolate. He had a series of wrinkles upon his face, indicating he was about 40 or so. He had a medium build with had very little muscle. It was no wonder that he was positioned as a spy for the Underground Association. He had very little strength due to his ageing. He wore a brown leather jacket with a navy blue dress shirt underneath it and wore faded blue jeans. If Squall didn't know his of occupation, he would have assumed he was just some average civilian. He also noticed his speech was lacking due to his accent, but nevertheless he trusted that this man was quite intelligent.

"Apparently, word on the street says there's a guy by the code name 'Jenster' who lives deep within the Timber forest; his cribs some ol' shack or somethin' 'long those lines. A few nights ago, he found some bodies decapitated within the woods and some strange markin's."

"Could it have been magic?" Zell questioned.

"Could be," he shortly said, "They did have burns 'round their bodies, too. Not just that, but strange large slashes. Couldn't be some regular sword, I can tell ya that!"

"What sword can inflict fire on itself?" Angelus muttered, but only Squall heard him clearly.

"…." Then it hit him. "A gunblade!"

"What?" Selphie yelled.

"It could have junctioned fire on its physical attack." Squall suggested.

"Junctioned?" Zell echoed, "But only SeeD and Cadets can use that! Garden has been closed down for two years now!"

"Could it be?" Selphie asked amongst herself, Squall and Zell in utter shock, hoping she could be wrong, "Could an ex-SeeD be the one who killed them?"

"No…"Squall muttered, "It's an ex-cadet…the only one who is ruthless enough to do such a thing…"

"It CAN'T be him!" Zell exclaimed.

"Seifer…" Squall finally said, "It could be him. He uses a gunblade which has fire junction towards its physical attack."

"But c-couldn't it be another Gunblade user?" Selphie asked, hesitantly.

Squall turned to her and explained, "There aren't many Gunblade specialist's left after the war. There weren't that many to begin with, anyway."

"So, you're saying you might know the guy who did it, Squall?" Angelus inquired, cocking an eye brow at the brunette, suspiciously.

He glanced over at the Naperic leader, "Seifer wouldn't do such a thing if the person telling him what to do is weaker than he is. He MUST be working along side someone of higher authority."

"The galbadian general, perhaps." Caesar stated, causing the group's attention to revert to him again.

"What does Caraway have to do with this?" Angelus asked him.

"He might have some connection with what's goin' on in Galbadia. I mean- doesn't he always?" the older man explained logically.

Riki tilted her head, murmuring, "If he commands the galbadian army, he probably has some of input on the governmental matters of the nation. So…wouldn't he be aware of what happened in Dollet?"

"And why didn't he even bother to send troops over towards Dollet?" Selphie cut in.

"Wish I knew…"Caesar sighed in defeat, and leaned backed into his chair. "Our underground groups haven't found that out yet. They're still lookin', but they can't find anything…"

"I say we bust in on the generals house and get our answers from him!" Zell cried out in excitement, expected by his usual nature.

"That'd be stupid, Blondie!" Angelus raised his voice, angrily, "If we did that, there's no doubt he'll get the cops involved. We would have to be slick, move silently through the shadows…"

"So, we gonna do it, Angelus?" Riki asked expectant for his answer.

"I-"

"That ain't a good idea," Caesar cut in and interjected Angelus before he offered his opinion on the matter. "We don't got much proof that the general was the person who killed those guys in Timber forest or the reason he didn't bother to do anythin' 'bout the Dollet attack. We can't bust 'em yet, the time is still young, and we got important matters to get to. I'll keep watch and report anythin' I see. As for you guys, you need to get to Timber ASAP and find out who…or what killed those guys."

"How we gonna get there?" Zell asked Caesar. "We got no money!"

Selene smiled, "Well, there are perks in working with the Underground Association. The UA has ties with different people, and they can get what the want from them; such as seven train tickets to Timber."

"It's true. Call us one big happy family!" Riki chirped.

"And you three are part of us now, so get used to it." Angelus smirked, eyeing Squall once more.

"That's why I got you these," Caesar said pulling ticket stubs from his coat pocket and revealing them to the group. "Tickets to Timber. You're train leaves first thing in the morning."

"Timber…" Squall muttered as he sat alone on the balcony of the hotel room he shared with Selphie and Zell. "I haven't been there since…"

"Since you and Rinoa met up again after the graduation ball, right?" Selphie's voice said from behind him. He turned to see her leaning against the doorway, still wearing her normal attire.

He nodded, reminiscing over all the events that occurred in Timber and the girl he met there two years ago.

Selphie scoffed, "How could you forget? I mean, it was Rinoa who started it all." The brunette began to pace further onto the balcony, "Not only she began to make you fall for her, our last journey started in Timber. We all thought it was just a regular SeeD mission, but we got thrown into the disarray of the Galbadian government…"

"Yeah…" Squall finally said, feeling Selphie sit right next to him in a nearby chair.

Her green eyes gazed at him, her voice becoming softer, "Isn't it going to be hard to go back there, Squall?"

"Whatever…" he muttered to hide his true emotions like he always did. He stood up and began to head to the doorway.

"I could tell…" She spoke after a moment's silence, causing him to turn around in question.

"What?"

"You still love her, right?" She asked persistently, but not a word came from his mouth.

"That's why…" her eyes narrowed to a sudden thought. "That's why you didn't keep in contact with me…am I right?"

Silence swallowed him whole.

"That night…under the stars where I hugged you… The night she cheated on you….it makes sense now." She pouted, staring at the stars.

"You were embarrassedof what I saw that night... the real you. That's why you never kept in touch. You never answered my emails or my calls. I was pushed out of your life so easily." Her eyes ventured over to Squall again, anticipating for his reply.

Squall inhaled deeply and let out a loud goaded sigh. She was right, but all he could do was watch her from the corner of his eye as his back was to her. Just by seeing her reaction to her newfound discovery, he could tell how hurt she was because of him. The only words he could say were, "You think you know so much about me, but you know so little…"

This statement slightly shocked her, yet she half expected it from him. It did not sooth her issues of being so fed up with his 'act', and aggravated by his attitude, "Why can't you just open up to anyone? Honestly! I thought we were making so much progress!"

"Love makes you do crazy things…such as open up to people."

"What can hurt you if you do open up to me? Can't you trust me? Cant you trust anyone?!"

"By trusting as in letting others in and making them aware of your personal business when they have nothing to do with it? I chose not for people to meddle into my affair and never asked for it either. Rinoa just happened to be an exception, that's all." He explained.

"So what am I?" Selphie demanded, springing up from her seat.

"Selphie, goodnight." He stated firmly as his feet lead him back inside to leave the petite brunette to vent.

"_He…he never used to be like this with me. He used to help me and cared for me as a good friend. What am I now? Why has he changed his ways with me? Did I do anything wrong…?" _she thought, turning to the stars above for the answer she was seeking. They only twinkled in reply and no answer came.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Squall lay down onto his bed later that night as the time ticked into the early morning. He sighed, unable to sleep, thinking over the conversation he had with Selphie. _"I've closed myself off from the people around me again."_ he concluded mentally, turning to his side as his eyes caught sight of the brunette sleeping on the bed next to his. The thick blankets were covered up to her shoulders as she cuddled up with the pillow that was under her head. Her face was blank; he found that unusual for she always slept with a smile. Squall figured that it was due to the result of their argument. _"It's for the best…cant you see that?" _

He rolled onto his side, staring at the darkened ceiling, being bombarded by more of his musings. _"I can't believe it's been two years already. I remember my last days at Garden so clearly…I remember her so clearly." His heart began to ache, he tried to gulp down hard trying to ease the pain, but it did little help. "Why? Why do I miss her after what she did? She caused me pain. She made me turn back to the way I was. I can't thank her for anything…I suppose I haven't fully gotten over her…" _

"_Fuck, what do I do?" _he asked himself, his eye lids began to get heavy and after a moment, he too fell asleep.

A/n: I know, I know, I just posted. I know how much you guys like my double chapter updates, but I promise I'll get the second one up as soon as possible. I'm tired of writting and reading and photoshoping and it's 3 am here. Lol. So, I hope you liked it anyway, and REVEIW PLEASE!


	10. Phase 9: Trial

**A/N: **Yah! I love reviews! You guys are awesome and make me laugh everytime I read them. You guys are so cool! Just wanted to put that out there. Here is that other chapter I put up for you like I promised. Again, this is the revised version (minus some mistakes made still...I'm only human!) I meant revised in the aspect that I've changed some things around in the story from the old one. I know the old one was up to like phase 20ish i beleive, but if you read that copy, you might notice slight differences in some of the chapters and character lines.

Secondly, READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! I'll make sure to reply! ENJOY!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy, but I'm glad to say I own some of the characters in this story!

**Phase 9:**_ Trial_

The train traveled upon the tracks as it was far from reaching its destination. The teens lingered in the hallways and their rooms of the train car. It was beyond Selphie how Caesar had managed to get them the suit car for them to share. The resistance really did have perks after all.

So there she was, walking aimlessly, deep in thought of how she had managed to get into this type of situation. She never would have expected to see a new world called the Underground Association. They were a group of people who committed organized crime, and dwelled in a secret place to plan out their next objectives. They had no other significant look about them other than seeming like the average civilian.

She whistled her tune to her train song almost sadly, her thoughts reluctantly drifting towards a certain male resistance member and ex-SeeD.

"_I cant believe Squall still loves her after everything she did."_ She sighed. _"Why? I don't get it. It's been two years and he still wants her. But…" _Her features became perplexed.

"_He was the one who was cheated on and left heartbroken…What is so great about her? She…was the nicest person I ever met, but all of a sudden she became very…mean. Quisty and I had totally noticed. We wanted to talk to her, but we didn't know how to." _

Selphie stopped her gait to ask herself a question, "_Why do I care so much?" _Her eyespeered out the window to the vast lands of green that were about the landscape. "_Who cares about him...? He's just Squall, and that's all he is to me. I don't care about him…do I? NO! I don't! Squall doesn't even like about me. He acted like that last night." _

"_It's so obvious that my friendship means nothing to him anymore. He only cares about himself! He's selfish, cold, rude, and stubborn, he has too much pride in himself and he's so many other bad things!" _her eye brows furrowed in anger as she pouted like an enraged child with balled fists at her sides.

Her childlike features alternated back to a sad frown. "_Yet…I can't help feel like he needs me somehow. He won't ever admit he does, but I want to stay close to him for now for some reason. I want to watch over him and support him like I did before. Even if he doesn't care…I still do…I can't deny it anymore." _

Selphie gave the landscape one final look before walking into the next car to go back to their room. Her refection in the window's glass portrayed a girl looking back at her, she could swear it was Stacy who was smiling back to her, but her mind could have been playing tricks on her. Selphie shook her head to rearrange these loose thoughts and when her eyes opened again, her green eyes in her reflection locked onto hers.

"I wonder where Stacy is right now?" She asked the other Selphie. "I miss you…"

"Was Stacy that red haired girl with you at the club that night?" Selphie heard a soft voice say. The brunette turned, spotting Selene standing near the room door. She nodded.

"I'm sorry, it's just you were talking to yourself." She smiled, "I couldn't help but hear you."

Selphie laughed, "It's okay, Selene." Her face went red in embarrassment.

Suddenly, the blonde's face went from peaceful to serious in a blink of an eye. Her tone had also changed as she spoke, "I have noticed that you're acting rather sad. If you're worried about your friend I can understand. Yet…there isn't much you can do about it, but there is one thing…"

"Hmmm?" Selphie gave her a puzzled look, "What is it?"

"Pray for her safety every night. Soon she will turn up and be fine."

Selphie smiled, "Thank you…"

Selene giggled, "You have a nice smile, you should always be happy."

"Well…I usually am, but I've had a lot on my mind lately." she replied, staring at the red carpeting.

Selene tilted her head questionably, "Like what? If you don't mind me asking."

The girl shook her head, "It must have been all this commotion. You know, losing my home, my best friend, joining you guys...it's hard to take in all at once, and I haven't been in combat in a long time so… I guess I'm kinda rusty!" She chuckled, scratching the back of her head.

"Don't worry; it will all come back to you. Now, if you need anyone to talk to, you can come to me for advice." Selene winked, humorously causing the girl to laugh again.

"Thank you." Selphie said. She was thankful for meeting such a nice person in such a chaotic time like this. Selene seemed genuine enough, and cared about people in general. She was beautiful too, being a light blonde with tanned skin. Her soft hair had gone down to her mid back. Her style seemed classy and elegant. She wore a white summer dress that had a tanned belt around her abdomen. The skirt went down to her mid thigh as she wore brown sandals. It was almost beyond Selphie how she could wear that in combat.

Momentarily, Selene began to gesture to the door not too far away, "Angelus wants to have a meeting before we get to Timber. We should get going."

Selphie nodded, "Okay! I'm ready to get this Mission on the road!"

Just before the brunette followed her, she glanced at the window one more and smiled,_ "She's right, you know? If I want Stacy to be okay, the only thing I can do is pray for her. Maybe we will meet up one day and everything will be back to normal."_

Selphie turned her heal and walked into the room beaming happily. And a weight off her shoulders.

"Hey, we're gonna stop off in the middle of nowhere, right?" Riki asked Angelus who sat next to her on the couch.

"Yeah, which means you have to get out your hiking boots." Angelus smirked, his eye twinkled.

"Fuck that! I ain't walking in no woods!" Riki exclaimed, making Zell, Mike and Angelus laugh.

"That's the only way to get in there," Mike cut in.

"Well, I'm gonna fly in there or somethin', I just don't wanna go in the woods!"

"What are you scared of?" Angelus asked in amusement. "Bears?"

"Fuck no!"

"It's probably bugs, eh? She starts screamin' like a little girl!" Zell laughed, waving his hands.

"Hey! Shut your trap!" she snapped at the blonde sitting on the top bunk of the bed.

Riki soon felt a hand ruffle her dark hair affectionately. Her eyes peered up to see Angelus' grin, "We're only kidding, kid. Don't take it seriously." He stated.

"I'm not a kid! 18! Remember that number!" she snapped back.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused everyone to allow Squall to grab their attention, which in turn had stood up from the wall he was quietly leaning on. His tone as serious in comparison to his features, "What did you call us here for, Angelus?"

Squall could hardly contain his impatience for the Naperic leader's lack of solemnity. Angelus reminded the lion of Seifer in a way. The two were both cocky, never serious about anything, and thrived to be leaders, but did not have it in them. He and Squall were very different.

The back haired man cocked an eye brow, "I was getting to that shortly, Leonhart."

"Then hurry it up so the rest of us who want to get this over with don't have to stand your idiocy." He said straight out.

Angelus stood up slowly, narrowing his eyes and the rooms chatter died down and went so silent a pin could drop and it could be heard. "Well, I apologize if _I_ like to have fun with my comrades."

His cold blue orbs locked onto Angelus' multicolored ones, "Well, real leaders get to the point. Otherwise, you will be wasting people's precious time."

"And what would you know about real leadership, Leonhart?" the Naperic Leader said in a low dangerous voice.

"More than you assume." Squall said shortly, the gap between the two men narrowed more and more before their noses were in each others faces.

Selphie and Zell exchanged anxious glances.

Angelus looked down on the younger man and scowled, "Is that a challenge? 'Cause if you want one, that's what you'll get…I guarantee that."

"Will you two cut that shit out?" Riki burst, feeling the level of tension between them skyrocket, "Fuck, we can't afford to have a rivalry in this group!"

"She's right," Selene cut in, "We all need to work together, and put our pride aside." She eyed the two men with her honey colored orbs.

"Whatever..."Squall muttered his signature response, resigning from his threatening position.

"Fine, as I was SAYING." He said referring to the 19 year old he was just about to clobber. Angelus provided him with a look that signified predominance.

His multicolored eyes trailed across his comrade's faces one by one as he spoke. "We are to do exactly what Caesar told us. We need to get off at the platform of the Timber forest, and go south west from there. We have to keep walking until we see Jenster's site. We then can do some investigating, so we can go to Timber, and report it to the nearest UA group."

"And what group would that be?" Selphie asked, hoping it wasn't the Forest Owls.

"The Raging Kupos." Angelus stated, smirking just saying the name.

"That is the most retarded thing I've heard in my life!" Zell laughed.

"Well, Timber offers weird Resistance groups." Riki cut in, standing up from the cozy couch she was sitting on.

"By the way, for this mission we need a party." Angelus informed the group, "I want Squall and…" he then turned his face to Selphie and gave her a little wink, "The _cutie_."

Selphie blushed, attempting to regain her composure by shaking her head rapidly before correcting him, "The name's Selphie!"

"I got ya," he leered, still winking.

"_Great…just great…"_ Squall thought, rolling his eyes. He was now stuck with Angelus for the first mission, and had to deal with his flirtatious behavior around Selphie. In addition, he must put up with his cockiness and arrogance for the time being. This was just _terrific!_

The train screeched to a halt an hour later as it arrived at the Timber Forest platform. Each Naperic group member stepped off one by one, gazing at the green of their surroundings. Trees and plants were the only thing they could see for miles..

The train was then on its way through the vast forest to its next destination, only to make a certain black haired girl call out in panic, "Come back! We're in the middle of nowhere! You Ain't gonna leave us here!"

"Cut it out Riki," Angelus said, "I got this under control." He obtained his compass and watched as the needle turned towards the north. "Okay, well, north is that way." He pointed his finger in the direction.

"So, that means south west is this way," Squall pointed in another direction.

The black haired man mocked in amusement, "Well, good for you, Leonhart. You're not useless after all."

"Whatever." He glared as the group began to walk past him.

"Would you two cut it out?" Selphie growled, furrowing her brows at the taller figures. Her hands were on her hips.

The group began to walk through the infinite amount of green that was ahead of them. Stepping over routs, walking between trees and cutting paths through the grass in order to find this site, they continued to proceed quietly.

Wildlife such as squirrels and a variety of bugs lingered in the trees and plants. It was a typical forest full of life as it seemed peaceful, yet the peace was about to be cut short.

Not too far away from where Selphie stood, a bush began to shake rapidly. Her attention darted towards the sound of movement, she turned slightly in cautious manner to inspect what it was. One hand was clenched together tightly, and the other gripped onto the handle of her Nunchaku; her heart beat fast in her chest.

The brunette glanced quickly at the group; they were too occupied in their current conversion, which Selphie paid little attention to. "Guys…" she called them as she tilted her head to the side, her green eyes still on the bush. "I don't think were alone…"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Selene asked expectantly, her honey colored eyes traced each of her friend's faces. She felt the urgency build inside her.


End file.
